Câu chẻ (Cleft Sentences) là gì?
Câu chẻ là cấu trúc dùng để nhấn mạnh một thành phần cụ thể trong câu (chủ ngữ, tân ngữ, hoặc trạng ngữ). Câu gốc được "chẻ" (split) thành hai phần: phần được nhấn mạnh và phần còn lại.
Trong đề VSTEP mức B2, câu chẻ thường xuất hiện ở dạng bài viết lại câu (sentence transformation) và Use of English.
1. It-cleft: It is/was...that/who
Công thức chung: It is/was + thành phần nhấn mạnh + that/who + phần còn lại
a) Nhấn mạnh chủ ngữ (người)
Công thức: It is/was + S (người) + who/that + V...
| Câu gốc | Câu chẻ |
|---|---|
| Tom broke the window yesterday. | It was Tom who/that broke the window yesterday. |
| My mother taught me to cook. | It was my mother who/that taught me to cook. |
b) Nhấn mạnh tân ngữ (người hoặc vật)
Công thức: It is/was + O + that/whom + S + V...
| Câu gốc | Câu chẻ |
|---|---|
| I met Mary at the party. | It was Mary that/whom I met at the party. |
| She bought a new car last week. | It was a new car that she bought last week. |
c) Nhấn mạnh trạng ngữ (thời gian, nơi chốn, lý do)
Công thức: It is/was + trạng ngữ + that + S + V...
| Nhấn mạnh | Câu gốc | Câu chẻ |
|---|---|---|
| Thời gian | He arrived yesterday. | It was yesterday that he arrived. |
| Nơi chốn | She met him at the library. | It was at the library that she met him. |
| Lý do | He quit because of the low salary. | It was because of the low salary that he quit. |
Quy tắc dùng who/that/whom
- who/that: nhấn mạnh người (chủ ngữ hoặc tân ngữ)
- whom/that: nhấn mạnh người (tân ngữ) — whom trang trọng hơn
- that: dùng cho cả người và vật, mọi trường hợp
- KHÔNG dùng which trong câu chẻ (đây là lỗi phổ biến)
2. What-cleft (Pseudo-cleft / Câu chẻ giả)
Công thức: What + S + V + is/was + thành phần nhấn mạnh
| Câu gốc | What-cleft |
|---|---|
| I need more time. | What I need is more time. |
| She said surprised everyone. | What she said surprised everyone. |
| He wants to travel the world. | What he wants is to travel the world. |
| They did was amazing. | What they did was amazing. |
Biến thể của What-cleft
| Cấu trúc | Ví dụ |
|---|---|
| What...is/was | What I like about Ha Noi is the food. |
| The thing that...is/was | The thing that bothers me is his attitude. |
| The person who...is/was | The person who helped me was my teacher. |
| The reason why...is/was | The reason why I'm here is to learn. |
| The place where...is/was | The place where I was born is Da Nang. |
3. All-cleft và The thing-cleft
Dùng để nhấn mạnh "điều duy nhất" hoặc "tất cả những gì":
| Cấu trúc | Ví dụ |
|---|---|
| All + S + V + is/was | All I want is a cup of coffee. (Tất cả những gì tôi muốn chỉ là một tách cà phê.) |
| All + S + need + is/was | All you need is love. (Tất cả bạn cần là tình yêu.) |
| The only thing + S + V + is/was | The only thing I regret is not studying harder. |
| The first thing + S + V + is/was | The first thing you should do is read the instructions. |
| The last thing + S + V + is/was | The last thing I expected was to win. |
4. Lưu ý quan trọng khi dùng câu chẻ
- Thì của "is/was": Nếu câu gốc ở hiện tại → dùng It is. Nếu câu gốc ở quá khứ → dùng It was.
- KHÔNG nhấn mạnh động từ bằng It-cleft. Muốn nhấn mạnh động từ, dùng What-cleft: What she did was (to) help me.
- KHÔNG dùng "which" trong câu chẻ: It was Tom that broke the window. (KHÔNG: It was Tom which...)
- Câu hỏi dạng câu chẻ: Was it Tom who broke the window? / Who was it that broke the window?
5. Bài tập trắc nghiệm — 15 câu
Chọn đáp án đúng nhất (A, B, C hoặc D) cho mỗi câu sau.
Câu 1. It was ______ helped me when I was in trouble.
A. him who B. he who C. him that D. he whom
Câu 2. It was at the library ______ she first met her husband.
A. which B. where C. that D. when
Câu 3. What I need right now ______ a good night's sleep.
A. are B. is C. were D. being
Câu 4. It was ______ that she decided to move to Ha Noi.
A. last year B. last year when C. on last year D. since last year
Câu 5. ______ I want to say is that we should work harder.
A. That B. Which C. What D. It
Câu 6. It was because of the heavy rain ______ the match was cancelled.
A. why B. which C. so D. that
Câu 7. All she wanted ______ to be left alone.
A. is B. was C. were D. are
Câu 8. ______ Tom who called you last night?
A. Was it B. It was C. Did it D. Is that
Câu 9. The thing that surprised me most ______ his honesty.
A. were B. is C. was D. are
Câu 10. It was my grandmother ______ taught me how to cook.
A. which B. whom C. whose D. who
Câu 11. What he said ______ completely wrong.
A. were B. was C. are D. have been
Câu 12. It was not until midnight ______ he finished his work.
A. when B. which C. that D. before
Câu 13. The reason ______ she quit her job was the low salary.
A. what B. which C. why D. that
Câu 14. ______ the students need is more practice, not more theory.
A. That B. Which C. It D. What
Câu 15. It was his attitude, not his ability, ______ cost him the job.
A. which B. what C. that D. who
6. Đáp án và giải thích
| Câu | Đáp án | Giải thích |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | B. he who | Nhấn mạnh chủ ngữ → dùng chủ cách "he" (không phải "him"). It was he who helped me. |
| 2 | C. that | Câu chẻ luôn dùng "that" (không dùng where/which). It was at the library that... |
| 3 | B. is | What-cleft: What I need is... (What = điều mà → số ít → is). |
| 4 | A. last year | Nhấn mạnh trạng ngữ thời gian: It was last year that... |
| 5 | C. What | What-cleft: What I want to say is that... |
| 6 | D. that | It was because of... + that (câu chẻ nhấn mạnh lý do). |
| 7 | B. was | All she wanted = tất cả những gì cô ấy muốn → số ít → was. |
| 8 | A. Was it | Câu hỏi dạng câu chẻ: đảo Is/Was lên trước It. |
| 9 | C. was | The thing that surprised me = số ít → was (quá khứ vì "surprised"). |
| 10 | D. who | Nhấn mạnh người (chủ ngữ) → who. Không dùng which cho người. |
| 11 | B. was | What he said = điều anh ấy nói → số ít → was. |
| 12 | C. that | It was not until... + that. Cấu trúc cố định. |
| 13 | C. why | The reason why = lý do tại sao. Đây là The reason-cleft. |
| 14 | D. What | What-cleft: What the students need is more practice. |
| 15 | C. that | It was his attitude... that cost him the job. Câu chẻ luôn dùng that. |
Bài tiếp theo: Participial phrases — Phân từ rút gọn mệnh đề trong tiếng Anh.