Clefts with این ... است که | Farsi Grammar

A Persian cleft separates one focused constituent from the rest of a proposition: این سارا بود که کلید را پیدا کرد “It was Sara who found the key.” The focused expression stands next to a copula, and که introduces the background clause. Speakers use this structure to correct an assumption, identify the decisive participant, or answer an implicit question such as “Who did it?”

English uses dummy it in It was Sara who.... Persian این is not a meaningless subject inserted by English grammar; it is a demonstrative element within the identifying frame. It may be omitted, especially when context already makes the contrast clear: سارا بود که کلید را پیدا کرد.

The architecture of a cleft

The practical pattern is:

(این) + focused constituent + copula + که + background clause

Part	Function	Example
این	optional identifying frame	“this / here is”
سارا	new, corrective, or contrastive focus	the answer to “who?”
بود	copula locating the identification in time	“was”
که	introduces presupposed background	“that”
کلید را پیدا کرد	clause with the focused role unexpressed	“found the key”

Compare a neutral statement with its cleft counterpart:

سارا کلید را زیر مبل پیدا کرد.

Sârâ kelid râ zir-e mobl peydâ kard.

Sara found the key under the sofa. (neutral statement)

این سارا بود که کلید را زیر مبل پیدا کرد.

in Sârâ bud ke kelid râ zir-e mobl peydâ kard.

It was Sara who found the key under the sofa. (neutral emphatic cleft)

The two sentences describe the same event but answer different discourse needs. The plain sentence can introduce the whole event. The cleft treats “someone found the key” as accessible background and identifies سارا as the correction or answer.

💡

A cleft is not simply a stronger word order. It divides information into a focused answer before the copula and a background proposition after که.

Focusing the subject

Subject clefts are the clearest and most frequent type. The focused noun supplies the understood subject of the clause after که, so that clause normally does not repeat a coreferential pronoun.

علی بود که پیشنهاد داد جلسه را عقب بیندازیم.

Ali bud ke pishnehâd dâd jalse râ aqab biyandâzim.

It was Ali who suggested postponing the meeting. (neutral; corrective subject focus)

این همسایه‌ها بودند که اول متوجه دود شدند.

in hamsâye-hâ budand ke avval motavajjeh-e dud shodand.

It was the neighbors who first noticed the smoke. (neutral; plural focus and plural past copula)

The copula belongs to the identifying frame, not to the background event. In the second example, plural بودند agrees with همسایه‌ها, while شدند independently agrees with the understood plural subject inside the که clause.

Copula agreement with pronoun pivots

With personal pronouns, the focused constituent and copula form a compact identification. Present forms commonly use the enclitic copula:

Focus	Present cleft opening	Past cleft opening
I	این منم که	این من بودم که
you, singular	این تویی که	این تو بودی که
he/she	این اوست که	این او بود که
we	این ماییم که	این ما بودیم که
you, plural/polite	این شمایید که	این شما بودید که
they	این آن‌ها هستند که	این آن‌ها بودند که

این منم که باید از همه عذرخواهی کنم.

in man-am ke bâyad az hame ozr-khâhi konam.

I am the one who must apologize to everyone. (neutral emphatic present)

این ماییم که مسئول نتیجه هستیم.

in mâ-yim ke mas'ul-e natije hastim.

We are the ones responsible for the outcome. (neutral emphatic present)

تو بودی که گفتی عجله‌ای نیست.

to budi ke gofti ajale-i nist.

You were the one who said there was no hurry. (neutral corrective reminder)

The present forms منم، تویی، اوست، ماییم، شمایید are standard contractions, not missing verbs. In informal Tehran speech, full هستم-type forms may also occur for extra insistence, but the compact copular forms are ordinary in both careful speech and writing.

💡

Make the copula agree with the focused pronoun: منم، تویی، ماییم, not an invariant third-person است copied from English “it is.”

Time, place, and prepositional focus

The focus need not be a person. A cleft can correct when, where, or under what circumstances the background event occurred. The focused phrase keeps any preposition required by its meaning.

فردا صبح است که نتیجه‌ی نهایی اعلام می‌شود.

fardâ sobh ast ke natije-ye nehâyi e'lâm mi-shavad.

It is tomorrow morning that the final result will be announced. (formal-neutral; time focus)

در همین پوشه بود که نسخه‌ی اصلی را پیدا کردم.

dar hamin pushe bud ke noskhe-ye asli râ peydâ kardam.

It was in this very folder that I found the original copy. (neutral; place focus)

به خاطر تأخیر قطار بود که به جلسه نرسیدیم.

be khâter-e ta'khir-e qatâr bud ke be jalse na-residim.

It was because of the train delay that we did not make it to the meeting. (neutral; reason focus)

These versions are more marked than simply fronting فردا صبح or در همین پوشه. Use the cleft when the identification itself matters—often after a correction such as “not tonight” or “not on the desk.”

Focusing a thing

A noun phrase denoting a thing can occupy the pivot. Its role is left unexpressed inside the که clause, just as in a relative clause.

همین نکته بود که نظر هیئت را عوض کرد.

hamin nokte bud ke nazar-e hey'at râ avaz kard.

It was this very point that changed the committee's opinion. (formal-neutral; subject focus)

همین نسخه بود که برای مشتری فرستادیم.

hamin noskhe bud ke barâ-ye moshtari ferestâdim.

It was this very version that we sent to the client. (neutral; object focus)

With a focused object, the object position in the background clause may be a gap, as above. In some discourse settings a resumptive clitic is possible, especially when the clause is long, but it should not be confused with placing را on که. The focused phrase itself can take را in colloquial topic structures, but that creates a different information-structural pattern rather than the clean cleft taught here.

The background is normally presupposed

A cleft suggests that the listener can accept or accommodate the event in the که clause. If nobody has mentioned a problem, suddenly saying “It was Sara who solved the problem” invites the inference that a problem was solved and that the identity of the solver is at issue. This is why clefts are natural in corrections and answers, but heavy as all-new announcements.

— چه کسی سفارش را لغو کرد؟ — بخش مالی بود که سفارش را لغو کرد.

— che kasi sefâresh râ laghv kard? — bakhsh-e mâli bud ke sefâresh râ laghv kard.

— Who canceled the order? — It was the finance department that canceled it. (neutral workplace exchange)

Contrastive stress alone can answer the same question: بخش مالی دستور لغو را داد. The cleft makes the answer–background division explicit. See Focus Position and Contrastive Stress for the lighter alternatives.

Informal reductions

In conversation (informal, regional: Tehran), است may reduce to ـه, and optional این is often omitted once the contrast is clear. Pronoun clefts remain especially compact: منم که گفتم “I'm the one who said it.” Write formal expository prose with standard forms when no conversational voice is intended.

منم که باید جوابش رو بدم، نه تو.

man-am ke bâyad javâb-ash ro be-dam, na to.

I'm the one who has to answer him, not you. (informal, regional: Tehran)

Common Mistakes

1. Omitting که

❌ علی بود پیشنهاد داد صبر کنیم.

Incorrect — the cleft needs که to introduce its background clause.

✅ ناهید بود که پیشنهاد داد کمی صبر کنیم.

Nâhid bud ke pishnehâd dâd kami sabr konim.

It was Nahid who suggested that we wait a little.

2. Leaving the copula in the wrong person and number

❌ این ما است که باید توضیح بدهیم.

Incorrect in the ordinary agreeing cleft — a first-person plural focus takes ماییم or ما هستیم.

✅ این ماییم که باید تصمیم نهایی را بگیریم.

in mâ-yim ke bâyad tasmim-e nehâyi râ be-girim.

We are the ones who must make the final decision.

3. Copying English dummy-it order

❌ آن بود رضا که تماس گرفت.

Incorrect — Persian places the focus before the copula and که: رضا بود که....

✅ رضا بود که آخر شب تماس گرفت.

Rezâ bud ke âkhar-e shab tamâs gereft.

It was Reza who called late at night.

4. Marking a focused subject with را

❌ این مدیر را بود که مخالفت کرد.

Incorrect — the focused expression is the subject of مخالفت کرد, not a را-marked object.

✅ این مدیر بود که با پیشنهاد مخالفت کرد.

in modir bud ke bâ pishnehâd mokhâlefat kard.

It was the manager who opposed the proposal.

Key Takeaways

A cleft has a focus before the copula and accessible background after که.
این belongs to the identifying frame but can be omitted when the contrast is already clear.
The copula agrees with a personal or plural focus: منم، تویی، ماییم، همسایه‌ها بودند.
The background clause normally leaves the focused role unexpressed rather than repeating a coreferential subject.
Use a cleft for correction or explicit identification; ordinary stress and fronting are lighter ways to focus information.

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