The linguistic construction that focuses on a particular part of the sentence by introducing it with a relative clause is called what?

• A. Cleft sentences
• B. Script
• C. Discourse marker
• D. Non-standard form

Answer: (A)

Emphasizing a specific part of a sentence by attaching a relative clause is a cleft sentence. This construction splits the statement into a focus element and a relative clause that identifies or describes that element, highlighting it for special attention. For example, in It was the budget that the manager approved, the focus is on "the budget," and the relative clause "that the manager approved" provides information about it. This pattern—a focused noun phrase followed by a relative clause—is the hallmark of clefting used to spotlight a particular part of the sentence.

Other terms describe different language features. A script refers to planning or formatting text or dialogue, a discourse marker is a word or phrase that helps organize or guide conversation (like well or anyway), and a non-standard form describes informal or nonstandard grammar. None of these explain the technique of focusing a sentence segment with a relative clause.