Lesson B2 · Upper-intermediate Grammar

Who Changed the Booking? Cleft Sentence Practice

Practise choosing and building clefts to correct specific misunderstandings.

10 min read 1,631 words Updated Oct 23, 2026

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B2 • About 30 minutes. Locate the exact mistaken fact in a short message. Select an it-cleft or what-cleft that answers the actual problem. Write corrections that preserve time, agent and object. Revise unnecessary emphasis out of a final message.

Agent: Maya. Change day: Tuesday. Original room: A. Replacement: C. Workshop remains Friday at six. Needed item: written confirmation. A cleft moves focus but must not alter these facts. — Mobile-friendly teaching diagram. The same information is available as selectable text in the resource.

The booking evidence

Message 1, Monday, Omar: I have checked the workshop notes. The group is due to meet in Room A on Friday at six. I have not changed the room booking. I am sending this now so everyone can check the same information. Please tell me if the caretaker contacts you about the room.

Message 2, Tuesday, Maya: The caretaker has just confirmed that a pipe in Room A needs repair. I changed our booking to Room C this morning. The workshop is still on Friday at six. Room C has enough tables, but we need a written confirmation of the change for the person setting up.

Message 3, Wednesday, Leila: Thanks, Maya. I will prepare the materials. A note in our shared folder says that Omar moved the workshop on Monday and that the start time is seven. That note is incorrect. Please use Maya’s Tuesday message. We do not need another room; we need the written confirmation. I will replace the old note once the group has checked the details.

Confirmed evidence matrix: person who changed the booking — Maya; day of the change — Tuesday; original room — A; replacement room — C. Unchanged event details: Friday at six. Needed action: obtain written confirmation. The change was caused by a pipe repair, not a request for a later time.

Read the disagreement before choosing a structure

The same booking has generated several different errors. One person has confused the agent; another has confused the day of the change with the day of the workshop. Correct the exact mistaken detail. A cleft about Maya will not directly fix a wrong time, even if the full sentence also happens to mention Friday.

Use it-clefts for a disputed person, room or time. Use a what-cleft to foreground the needed item or action. Keep ordinary sentences for the background. In the final message, two well-chosen clefts will usually help more than six emphatic sentences. For typed reconstructions, follow the requested beginning; the key lists natural who/that alternatives where appropriate.

Find the misunderstanding

Match each incorrect claim with the source fact that corrects it.

Answer on paper, then open the explanations below. Enable JavaScript to check answers here.

1 Claim: “Omar changed the booking.” Which message directly identifies the actual agent?

Choose one answer.

Message 2: Maya changed the booking. Message 1: Omar checked notes. Message 3: Leila will prepare materials.

Answer and explanation

Message 2: Maya changed the booking.

Maya says “I changed our booking” in Message 2. Omar explicitly says he did not change it.

2 Claim: “The room changed on Monday.” Which fact corrects it?

Choose one answer.

The workshop is on Friday. Maya’s Tuesday message says this morning. Leila writes on Wednesday.

Answer and explanation

Maya’s Tuesday message says this morning.

The message date plus this morning identifies Tuesday as the change day. Friday is the workshop day.

3 Claim: “We are still using Room A.” Which confirmed fact corrects it?

Choose one answer.

Original room: A. Workshop day: Friday. Replacement room: C.

Answer and explanation

Replacement room: C.

Message 2 moves the booking from A to C. The original room is not the current venue.

4 Claim: “We need another room.” Which fact corrects it?

Choose one answer.

We need written confirmation. Leila needs more materials. Omar needs a new time.

Answer and explanation

We need written confirmation.

Messages 2 and 3 identify written confirmation as the remaining need; no further room change is requested.

Choose a useful focus

Choose the sentence that directly addresses the quoted mistake.

Answer on paper, then open the explanations below. Enable JavaScript to check answers here.

5 “Omar made the change.”

Choose one answer.

It was Maya who changed the booking. It was Room C that Maya booked.

Answer and explanation

It was Maya who changed the booking.

The agent Maya corrects Omar. A room-focused cleft addresses a different uncertainty.

6 “The change happened on Monday.”

Choose one answer.

It was Maya who changed the room on Tuesday. It was on Tuesday that the room changed.

Answer and explanation

It was on Tuesday that the room changed.

The disputed fact is the day, so the time phrase receives focus.

7 “We are meeting in Room A.”

Choose one answer.

It is Room C that we are using on Friday. It is on Friday that we are using Room C.

Answer and explanation

It is Room C that we are using on Friday.

Room C is the relevant contrast; Friday is already agreed.

8 “Should I find another room?”

Choose one answer.

What we need is another room. What we need is written confirmation.

Answer and explanation

What we need is written confirmation.

The correct answer foregrounds the remaining need without contradicting Messages 2 and 3.

Build the corrections

Use the evidence and the exact frame provided.

Answer on paper, then open the explanations below. Enable JavaScript to check answers here.

9 Complete the focused phrase, including the preposition on: “It was ___ that the room changed.” Your answer

Answer and explanation

on Tuesday

The change occurred on the morning of Maya’s Tuesday message. Preserve the preposition in the supplied time phrase.

10 Rewrite with Maya in focus: “Maya changed the booking.” Your answer

Answer and explanation

It was Maya who changed the booking.

Also accepted: It was Maya that changed the booking.; It was Maya who changed the booking; It was Maya that changed the booking

Maya is the corrected agent. Who or that is acceptable for a person.

11 Complete with the correct form of need: “What we ___ is written confirmation.” Your answer

Answer and explanation

need

Need creates statement order inside the what-clause and matches the remaining action in Messages 2 and 3.

12 Complete with one word: “What happened ___ that a pipe needed repair.” Your answer

Answer and explanation

was

Was links the what-clause to the explanation of the event. The repair need caused the room change.

Edit for truth and tone

Identify the relevant repair. Do not call a merely emphatic sentence ungrammatical.

Answer on paper, then open the explanations below. Enable JavaScript to check answers here.

13 “It was on Monday that Maya changed the booking.” What needs repair?

Choose one answer.

Change Maya to Omar. Remove was. Change Monday to Tuesday.

Answer and explanation

Change Monday to Tuesday.

The frame is grammatical, but the day contradicts Message 2. This is a factual repair.

14 Remove the repeated object: “It was Room C that Maya booked it.” Your answer

Answer and explanation

It was Room C that Maya booked.

Also accepted: It was Room C that Maya booked

Room C fills the object role of booked; a second object it is unnecessary.

15 “It is at seven that the workshop starts.” Choose the accurate correction.

Choose one answer.

It is on Tuesday that the workshop starts. It is at six that the workshop starts.

Answer and explanation

It is at six that the workshop starts.

Message 2 preserves Friday at six. Tuesday is the booking-change day, not the workshop day.

16 After two useful clefts, you simply want to state Leila’s task. Which neutral sentence fits?

Choose one answer.

Leila will prepare the materials. It is Leila who will prepare the materials.

Answer and explanation

Leila will prepare the materials.

Both are grammatical. The prompt asks for neutral background, and no one has disputed Leila’s task. More emphasis adds little here.

Write, compare and revise

Your turn · self-review

Independent writing

Write your own response first, then compare the model and use the self-review checklist below. The model is one possible answer, not a script to copy.

Practice only. Your writing stays on this page; it is not submitted or saved.

1Write 100–120 words to clarify the booking for the group. Use two purposeful clefts and ordinary sentences elsewhere. Preserve the agent, change day, room, workshop time and remaining action. Do not add blame or a new arrangement.
Model answer and explanation
Hi everyone, here is a clarification of the workshop booking. It was Maya who changed the room on Tuesday, after the caretaker confirmed that a pipe in Room A needed repair. We will now use Room C. The workshop is still on Friday at six, so please ignore the old note saying seven. What we need is written confirmation of the room change for the person setting up. We do not need to find another room. Leila will prepare the materials and replace the old note after we have checked the details. Please use Maya’s Tuesday message as the source for the current arrangement.

Self-review and transfer

The model’s it-cleft corrects the agent; its what-cleft foregrounds the remaining need. Check four things: facts match the messages; each cleft answers a real misunderstanding; the background clause is complete without a repeated object; ordinary sentences carry undisputed details. A different valid message may focus Tuesday or Room C instead, provided it still uses two purposeful clefts and preserves all required facts.

Companion resource: Cleft Sentences: Put the Important Information in Focus.

Related references for further study: Community Swap: Defining Relative Clauses Practice; From Scattered Notes to a Clear Community Update; Disagree Without Ending the Conversation.

For the structured course sequence, study Cleft sentences and focus. Use this standalone reference and its original exercises to diagnose and apply the patterns.