Cleft sentences (es ist ...)

Cleft Sentences (Spaltsätze)

Sometimes you want to put special emphasis on a specific part of a sentence, especially when you need to clear up a rumor or a misunderstanding. In English, instead of simply saying "The detective uncovers the lie," you might say "It is the detective who uncovers the lie."

German builds these emphasizing structures—called cleft sentences (Spaltsätze)—exactly like English. You start with es ist (it is), insert the noun you want to highlight, and follow it with a relative clause.

Emphasizing the Subject

When the noun you are highlighting is the subject (the person or thing performing the action), the relative pronoun that begins the next clause will be in the nominative case (der, die, or das).

For example, to emphasize that the gossip (der Tratsch) is the thing destroying a relationship, we use the masculine relative pronoun der to connect the two halves of the sentence.

Emphasizing the Direct Object

You can also use cleft sentences to emphasize the direct object of the action. When you do this, the relative pronoun must match the noun's gender, but it will take the accusative case.

For masculine nouns like an error (der Irrtum) or the gossip (der Tratsch), the relative pronoun becomes den. For feminine and neuter nouns, the relative pronouns (die and das) look exactly the same in both the nominative and accusative cases.

Correcting Misunderstandings

Because they inherently point a spotlight at one specific detail, cleft sentences are the perfect tool for setting the record straight. You can use them to directly contrast a false assumption with the truth, and you can easily adapt them to the past tense by using es war (it was).