A cleft splits a proposition to give one constituent explicit focus. In Ήταν ο Γιάννης που έκανε το λάθος, the copula identifies that focus and the που-clause supplies the background. A pseudo-cleft reverses the order: Αυτός που έκανε το λάθος ήταν ο Γιάννης.
Clefts: είμαι + focus + που-clause
The basic frame is είμαι + focus + που + clause. The copula carries tense; unaccented που introduces active or recoverable information.
Ήταν η Ιωάννα που βρήκε τελικά τη λύση.
ítan i Ioána pu vríke teliká ti lísi
It was Ioanna who eventually found the solution.
Είναι ο λογιστής που κρατάει όλα τα πρωτότυπα έγγραφα.
íne o loyistís pu kratái óla ta protótipa éngrafa
It is the accountant who keeps all the original documents.
Δεν ήταν ο καιρός που μας καθυστέρησε, ήταν η κίνηση.
dhen ítan o kerós pu mas kathistérise, ítan i kínisi
It wasn't the weather that delayed us; it was the traffic.
Unlike English it was X who…, Greek needs no dummy “it”: είναι/ήταν can begin the identification directly.
Adverbial constituents can also occupy the focus slot. Time and reason clefts are common in careful speech as well as writing.
Ήταν τότε που κατάλαβα πόσο σοβαρό ήταν το πρόβλημα.
ítan tóte pu katálava póso sovaró ítan to próvlima
It was then that I understood how serious the problem was.
Γι' αυτό είναι που επιμένω να ελέγξουμε ξανά τα στοιχεία.
yaftó íne pu epiméno na elénksume ksaná ta stichía
That is why I insist that we check the figures again.
Εκεί ήταν που γνωριστήκαμε πρώτη φορά.
ekí ítan pu ghnoristíkame próti forá
That was where we first met.
These forms are marked but not automatically (formal). Γι' αυτό είναι που… is conversational too; extended clefts also serve journalism and formal argument.
Pseudo-clefts: the relative part comes first
A pseudo-cleft begins with a free or headed relative expression and makes the focus the predicate of είμαι. Productive frames include αυτό που… είναι…, εκείνο που… είναι…, and for people αυτός που… είναι….
Αυτό που χρειάζομαι τώρα είναι λίγη ησυχία.
aftó pu chriázome tóra íne líyi isichía
What I need now is a little peace and quiet.
Εκείνο που δεν εξήγησε ήταν η αλλαγή στο χρονοδιάγραμμα.
ekíno pu dhen eksíyise ítan i alayí sto chronodhiághrama
What he did not explain was the change in the timetable.
Αυτός που ανέλαβε την ευθύνη ήταν ο νεότερος της ομάδας.
aftós pu anélave tin efthíni ítan o neóteros tis omádhas
The one who took responsibility was the youngest member of the team.
The first part creates a slot and the predicate fills it. Αυτό/εκείνο is neuter for a thing or proposition; αυτός/αυτή/αυτοί agrees with a human referent. A nominal identifying focus is normally nominative.
Pseudo-clefts suit considered conversation and (formal) exposition: the relative proposition becomes a topic before the delayed answer arrives.
Reversed pseudo-clefts
The identifying focus may come first and the relative expression second. This “reversed” order starts with the answer and then names the role it fills.
Λίγος χρόνος για τον εαυτό μου είναι αυτό που χρειάζομαι απόψε.
líghos chrónos ya ton eaftó mu íne aftó pu chriázome apópse
A little time to myself is what I need tonight.
Η έλλειψη συνεννόησης ήταν αυτό που προκάλεσε την καθυστέρηση.
i élipsi sinenóisis ítan aftó pu prokálese tin kathistérisi
The lack of coordination was what caused the delay.
This order foregrounds an answer already linked to the discourse; the forward order postpones it.
Clefting versus plain focus fronting
Greek's flexible word order can focus a constituent without a copula. Τον Πέτρο είδα χθες, όχι τον Μάριο fronts the object and relies on contrastive stress. A cleft expands the same communicative choice into two clauses.
Τον Πέτρο είδα χθες, όχι τον Μάριο.
ton Pétro ídha chthes, óchi ton Mário
It was Petros I saw yesterday, not Marios. (plain contrastive fronting)
Ήταν ο Πέτρος αυτός που μου τηλεφώνησε, όχι ο Μάριος.
ítan o Pétros aftós pu mu tilefónise, óchi o Mários
It was Petros who called me, not Marios. (expanded cleft)
Plain fronting is compact and intonation-dependent. A cleft states the identification overtly, suiting correction and staged prose. Both are grammatical but package old and new information differently. See focus fronting.
Agreement and the role of που
The που in a cleft is the same invariable relative marker used elsewhere and never takes a tonos. The verb inside its clause still agrees with its own subject, including first and second person.
Εσύ είσαι που ξέρεις καλύτερα τη διαδικασία.
esí íse pu kséris kalítera ti dhiadhikasía
You are the one who knows the procedure best.
Εμείς ήμασταν που ζητήσαμε δεύτερο έλεγχο.
emís ímastan pu zitísame dhéftero élencho
We were the ones who requested a second check.
English expects who for people and that for things. Greek keeps που throughout; agreement appears on ξέρεις, ζητήσαμε, not on the relative marker. See the relative που.
Common Mistakes
1. Replacing relative που with complementizer ότι.
❌ Ήταν η Άννα ότι βρήκε τα κλειδιά.
Incorrect—a cleft links its focus to a relative clause with που, not reported-content ότι.
✅ Ήταν η Άννα που βρήκε τα κλειδιά.
ítan i Ána pu vríke ta klidhiá
It was Anna who found the keys.
2. Omitting the copula from a pseudo-cleft.
❌ Αυτό που θέλω λίγη ησυχία.
Incorrect—the relative topic and its identifying focus must be linked by είναι.
✅ Αυτό που θέλω είναι λίγη ησυχία.
aftó pu thélo íne líyi isichía
What I want is a little peace and quiet.
3. Leaving the relative verb in third person after bare εσύ. With no demonstrative αυτός to supply third-person agreement, the relative clause continues the second-person focus.
❌ Εσύ είσαι που ξέρει τι συνέβη.
Incorrect—the subject inside the που-clause is second-person εσύ, so the verb is ξέρεις.
✅ Εσύ είσαι που ξέρεις τι συνέβη.
esí íse pu kséris ti sinévi
You are the one who knows what happened.
Key Takeaways
- A cleft uses είμαι + focus + που-clause; a pseudo-cleft uses αυτός/αυτό που + clause + είμαι + focus.
- The copula carries tense, while the που-clause presents the background proposition.
- Plain focus fronting is shorter and intonation-dependent; clefting makes the identification relation explicit.
- Relative που stays unaccented and invariable. Its verb normally follows the focused subject; with an overt demonstrative, agreement may instead follow that third-person head.
Related Topics
- Focus FrontingC1 — Move new or contrastive Greek information to the front with strong intonation and, for a focused object, no resumptive clitic.
- The Relative πουA2 — One tiny word covers English who, whom, which and that, and it never changes shape: που is invariable for gender, number and case, so ο άντρας που ήρθε, η γυναίκα που ήρθε and τα παιδιά που ήρθαν all use the same form. Covers why που can never be dropped the way English drops 'that', the non-noun antecedents (τη μέρα που, τώρα που, εκεί που), restrictive against non-restrictive, and the person agreement in Εσύ που ξέρεις.
- Word Order for EmphasisB2 — Use Greek order together with intonation to emphasize a subject, object, time, place, or newly introduced participant without changing grammatical roles.