Kilo Lingo
Spanish grammar Part of Chapter 37

CEFR B2

4 min read

Test yourself (16 questions)

Spanish Cleft Sentences: fue Pedro quien, lo que quiero es

By Michael McGettrick and Sergio Linares-HernandesUpdated 12 October 2026

To put the spotlight on one part of a sentence and nobody else, Spanish wraps it in and a relative, just as English does with "it was... who":

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Choose the word that completes each cleft sentence.

  1. Fue en la playa nos conocimos.

  2. Es mañana llegan.

  3. Fue así lo conseguí.

  • Pedro . - It was Pedro who did it.
  • . - What I want is to rest.

Cleft sentences at a glance

The whole page on one screen.

the spotlightthe relative wordthe echo pronounWhat do the colours mean?
FrameSpanishEnglish
+ Pedro .It was Pedro who did it.
+ Madrid .It was in Madrid that I met her.
+ .It's tomorrow that they arrive.
... .What I want is to rest.
... Juan.The one who was late was Juan.
fronting .The car, I fixed it yesterday.
emphatic .I did do it.

Spanish word order is free enough to shift the weight a little. A cleft goes all the way:

How hard is the spotlight on Pedro?
NeutralNobody else
  1. Pedro lo hizo.Pedro did it
  2. Lo hizo Pedro.Pedro is the news
  3. Fue Pedro quien lo hizo.Pedro, and nobody else

Fue Pedro quien: the ser cleft

the spotlightthe relative wordWhat do the colours mean?

The frame is + the spotlight + a relative clause for the rest:

Ser
Spotlight
Relative
The rest
Pedro
.
Madrid
.
.
.

The relative word matches what you are spotlighting:

SpotlightSpanishEnglish
person: María .It was María who told me.
place: .It was on the beach that we met.
time: .It was yesterday that I saw him.
manner: .That's how I managed it.
reason .That's why I left.

agrees with a plural spotlight and usually matches the tense of the clause:

  • . - It was them who won.
  • Pedro . - It's Pedro who does it.

Lo que quiero es: the pseudo-cleft

the spotlightthe relative wordWhat do the colours mean?

The pseudo-cleft turns the cleft round. A clause builds up the question, and the answer lands last, after :

UseSpanishEnglish
a wish .What I want is to rest.
a need .What I need is a coffee.
an excuse .The thing is, I haven't got time.
a puzzle .What I don't understand is why he/she left.

is the everyday one: a speaker uses it to explain, or to excuse. The is the neuter one from lo neuter: it means "the thing that".

El que, la que: the one who

masculinefemininelo (an idea)What do the colours mean?

For a person or a specific thing, becomes , , or , agreeing with it:

WhoSpanishEnglish
a man Juan.The one who was late was Juan.
a woman .The one who helped me was your sister.
people .The ones who arrived first won.

The article is the whole difference between a thing and an idea:

  • . - The one I need is this one.
  • . - What I need is to sleep.

Fronting: el coche lo arreglé

the echo pronounWhat do the colours mean?

Short of a cleft, everyday Spanish moves the object to the front as the topic and leaves a pronoun behind in its old place. With a definite object at the front, the echo is required, and it agrees:

FrontedSpanishEnglish
a thing .The car, I fixed it yesterday.
a person María .María, I saw her yesterday.
plural .I' got the keys.
an idea .I didn't know that.
to someone .I bought my mother flowers.

Leaving the echo out (" ") is wrong in ordinary speech. The one exception is a contrast said with heavy stress on the object, as in "the CAR I fixed, not the bike", which is rarer and sounds marked.

Emphatic sí and sí que

the spotlightWhat do the colours mean?

To insist something is true, against a doubt or a denial, put a stressed before the verb:

AgainstSpanishEnglish
doubt .I did do it.
doubt .This one does work.
contrast , .He didn't come, but I did.
agreeing .That really is true.
the weather .It really is hot today.

Keep the accent. is the emphatic yes; without it means "if", so " " reads as an unfinished "if I did it...".

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
agrees with a plural spotlight
the relative agrees too
a fronted topic needs its echo
the echo agrees with the object
... Juan ... Juana person takes or
yo the emphatic yes has an accent

Pedro , with bare , is common in speech, especially in Latin America, but careful Spanish writes or after a person.

What to do next

  1. Spotlight first: + who + . Spotlight last: ... .
  2. Do the window story and the , , sort below.
  3. Then verb-subject order, the lighter way to shift the weight.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/4

Choose the word that completes each cleft sentence.

  1. Fue en la playa nos conocimos.

  2. Es mañana llegan.

  3. Fue así lo conseguí.

  4. Fueron ellos ganaron el partido.

Sort into groups

0/4

Which words start each sentence: el que, la que or lo que?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.

Complete the story

0/4

Choose the word for each gap.

Who broke the window?

¿Rompiste tú la ventana? No, yo no fui. Pedro quien la rompió. ¿Y el coche? El coche arreglé yo ayer. ¿Seguro? ¡Sí, yo lo arreglé! ¿Y las llaves? Las llaves tiene mamá.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you form a cleft sentence with in Spanish?
, then the part you want to spotlight, then a relative clause for the rest: Pedro (it was Pedro who did it). The relative matches the spotlight: or for a person, for a place, for a time, for a manner. agrees with a plural spotlight ( ) and usually matches the tense of the clause.
What is the difference between Pedro and ?
They put the spotlight at opposite ends. Pedro puts it first and leaves the rest as background. builds up with a clause and lands the point last, after . Both are built on , and both are more emphatic than a plain sentence.
What does emphatic or in Spanish?
A stressed before the verb insists that something is true, usually against a doubt: (I did do it), (this one does work). turns it up: (that really is true). Keep the accent: without it means if.
Why does Spanish say with an ?
When an object moves to the front as the topic, Spanish leaves a pronoun in its old place: (the car, I fixed it yesterday), a María (María, I saw her yesterday). With a definite object at the front, the echo pronoun is required, and it agrees: (I' got the keys).
Is Pedro correct?
It is common in speech, especially in Latin America, but careful Spanish uses or after a person: Pedro , Pedro . With a place or a time, and are the standard choice: Madrid .