A cleft sentence is a sentence which has been divided into two parts, each with its own

verb, to emphasize a particular piece of information. The first sentence begins with It plus
the corresponding form of the verb to be, followed by the element which is being
emphasized, and the second is generally a that-relative clause. For example, the
sentence My brother married Alice in Oxford in 1999 can be turned into the
following cleft sentences:

It was Alice that my brother married (in Oxford in 1999)

It was my brother that married Alice (in Oxford in 1999)
It was in Oxford that my brother married Alice (in 1999)
It was in 1999 that my brother married Alice (in Oxford)

If the antecedent is a person, who is sometimes used instead of that:

It was my brother who married Alice

It's my wife who drives the children to school

When there is a what-clause which emphasizes the action itself, we have a pseudo-cleft
sentence:

You need love becomes what you need is love

If there is an infinitive, to is optional:

You've spoilt everything becomes What you've done is (to) spoil everything

All is used instead of what when the meaning is the only thing that:

The only thing I did was (to) drink a couple of beers becomes All I did was (to) drink a
couple of beers.

Pseudo-cleft sentences headed by where or when are sometimes found:

Where the boss has his office is on the second floor

When I am most tired is in the evening

but, in pseudo-cleft sentences with where or when, the wh-clause is more usually found
as subject complement:

Here is where the accident took place

This is where I work
Spring is when the countryside is most beautiful

Although they are not very common, some pseudo-cleft sentences with who or how are
sometimes found:

1
Who I mean is the chief inspector or, more commonly, The chief inspector is who I mean
How he talked is with a Scottish accent or, more commonly, With a Scottish accent is
how he talked