To place special emphasis on a specific part of a question, Swedish frequently uses cleft constructions—similar to "Who is it that..." in English. You build these with a question word (vem, vad, or var), followed by är det (is it), and often the relative pronoun som (that/who).
Emphasizing the Subject (Vem and Vad)
To emphasize who or what is performing an action, use Vem är det som... or Vad är det som.... When the question word represents the subject of the sentence, som is strictly required to connect the question to the rest of the clause.
| Who is it that is responsible for the audition? | Vem är det som ansvarar för provspelningen? |
| What is it that makes the audition so difficult? | Vad är det som gör provspelningen så svår? |
| Who is it that can portray the character best? | Vem är det som kan gestalta karaktären bäst? |
Emphasizing "Where" (Var)
You can also emphasize a location using Var är det... (Where is it...). Because var points to a place rather than the subject of the sentence, Swedish speakers typically drop the word som entirely.
| Where is it that we will discuss the casting? | Var är det vi ska diskutera rollbesättningen? |
| Where is it that she will do the monologue? | Var är det hon ska göra monologen? |
Emphasizing the Object
When asking about the object of the sentence (the person or thing receiving the action), som is usually kept as a connector even though there is another subject performing the action. If the question involves a preposition (like med, with), that preposition gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
| What is it that the body language reveals about the character? | Vad är det som kroppsspråket avslöjar om karaktären? |
| Who is it that the director is discussing the interpretation with? | Vem är det som regissören diskuterar tolkningen med? |