Is 'The Emphatic Pattern' common in colloquial English?

[Hiya Raymond]

The Emphatic Pattern is included in the English exam of Chinese high school,but I'm not sure if we are learning the pedant English.

The origianl sentence: My father did the experiment in the lab yesterday evening.
Emphasizing subject： It was my father who did the experiment in the lab yesterday evening.
Emphasizing object： It was the experiment that my father did in the lab yesterday evening.
Emphasizing time： It was yesterday evening that my father did the experiment in the lab.
Emphasizing place： It was in the lab that my father did the experiment yesterday evening.

Thanks!

 

[probus]

I don't think you should use the phrase "the pedant English." You might hurt our feelings.

But that apart, I think you are receiving very good and clear teaching on the matter of emphasis.

 

[tzfujimino]

Hello, Hiya Raymond.:-D

As for 'cleft sentences', Michael Swan writes:

"They are useful in writing (because we cannot use intonation for emphasis in written language), but they are also common in speech."
(Practical English Usage Third Edition page 106)

I hope it helps.

 

[Hiya Raymond]

Is 'apart' a adverb in the phrase of 'but that apart'? Is that a shortened phrase?

Thank you very much for your answers!

 

[probus]

Apart is indeed an adverb. You could also say "Apart from that."

 

[Hiya Raymond]

Could a adverb modify a noun,or something else?

 

[probus]

Could a adverb modify a noun,or something else?

Of course not. Don't be silly. ;-) When we are faced with a construction such as "so fun" we are forced to conclude that fun has morphed from a noun into an adjective, not that the fundamental rules of grammar have changed