The Importance of Starting With What

Cleft sentences are more common in written English when we write. This is partly because we can't use stress or intonation for emphasis while writing. In a cleft sentence, what I want right now is that I want to be a little bit of tea. What I really need is a good night's sleep. That's what I really need. If I say it was Reza who paid the bill, you can hear me stress Reza as that's the emphasis I want to give. It wasn't Harry who paid the bills but Reza who did.