Emphasis & advanced · CEFR C1 · Fluent
It was John who… — English emphasis and inversion
Splitting one sentence into two so that one part carries all the weight. It is how English underlines a word out loud.
The shape
It + be + the part you mean + who / that + clause
Point at exactly which part of a sentence matters.
In Hindi
एक वाक्य को दो में बाँटकर एक हिस्से पर पूरा ज़ोर डालना।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
It was John which called you. | It was John who called you. John is a person, so the joining word is "who" or "that". |
Easy to confuse with
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
- What I need is…C1Build up to your point instead of opening with it
- FrontingC1Choose what your sentence opens with
Questions people ask
- What is the it was john who… used for?
- Splitting one sentence into two so that one part carries all the weight. It is how English underlines a word out loud. In practice: point at exactly which part of a sentence matters.
- How do you form the it was john who…?
- It + be + the part you mean + who / that + clause.
- What is the most common mistake with the it was john who…?
- Saying “It was John which called you.” instead of “It was John who called you.”. John is a person, so the joining word is "who" or "that".
Where it was john who… fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
It was John who… is a CEFR C1 structure — the fluent band — and it belongs to emphasis & advanced. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
Practise the it was john who… →