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### 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.

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### 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.

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### 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).

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Cleft sentences (es ist ...)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
obvious	offensichtlich
the gossip	der Tratsch
It is obviously the gossip that is destroying the relationship.	Es ist offensichtlich der Tratsch, der die Beziehung zerstört.
harmless	harmlos
It is the harmless gossip that they love.	Es ist der harmlose Tratsch, den sie lieben.
the lie	die Lüge
to deny (a claim or statement)	bestreiten
It is this lie that the neighbor denies.	Es ist diese Lüge, die der Nachbar bestreitet.
to uncover	aufdecken
It is the detective who uncovers the lie.	Es ist der Detektiv, der die Lüge aufdeckt.
the fact	die Tatsache
If he denies the fact, I will not believe him.	Bestreitet er die Tatsache, glaube ich ihm nicht.
actually	tatsächlich
It is actually the truth that surprises us.	Es ist tatsächlich die Wahrheit, die uns überrascht.
the error	der Irrtum
It is a mistake that she actually regrets.	Es ist ein Irrtum, den sie tatsächlich bedauert.
the envy	der Neid
It was not a harmless mistake that caused the problem, but rather the envy.	Es war kein harmloser Irrtum, der das Problem verursacht hat, sondern der Neid.
Had he not lied, the envy would not be so obvious.	Hätte er nicht gelogen, wäre der Neid nicht so offensichtlich.
It is the secret that we are uncovering, even though he denies it.	Es ist das Geheimnis, das wir aufdecken, obwohl er es bestreitet.
Does the rumor bother you? - No, it is the fact that bothers me.	Stört dich das Gerücht? - Nein, es ist die Tatsache, die mich stört.