It -clefts consist of the pronoun it, a form of the verb to be, the focused element, and a relative-like dependant clause introduced by that, who/which or zero.
In the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP), the pronoun ‘it’ is C2 when it emphasizes one part of a sentence. The example given in the EVP matches two C2 grammar points in the English Grammar Profile in different categories.
point 15 in the category of FOCUS is defined as:
‘IT’ CLEFT + ‘be’ + noun + ‘that’ clause for focus.
a cleft construction beginning with ‘it’ to emphasize the subject of the main clause.
However, Pearson lists this at GSE 59 B2:
clauses with ‘It’ + ‘be’ … to emphasise the topic or main point.
It’s the money that keeps me in this job.
= Money keeps me in this job. (Money is the subject of the normal clause)
It was his accent that made him hard to understand.
= His accent made him hard to understand. (His accent is the subject of the normal clause)
To be clear, it is not the subject of the un-clefted sentence that makes this C2 complexity. In addition, note that almost all examples given by dictionaries and grammar resources start the sentence with ‘it’ and focus on nouns. However, clefts can be found buried deeper in sentences with various focus elements. For example:
it will be in our actions that
we will find hope and meaning.
= I believe we will find hope and meaning in our actions.
And it was here that I met Jane.
= I met Jane here.
If we follow the EGP point 15 examples tagged:
It_PPH1 is_VBZ Lily_NP1 who_PNQS decides_VVZ
It_PPH1 was_VBDZ Paul_NP1 who_PNQS stole_VVD
It_PPH1 is_VBZ Piggy_NN1 who_PNQS finds_VVZ
It_PPH1 is_VBZ my_APPGE mother_NN1 who_PNQS always_RR plays_VVZ
It_PPH1 is_VBZ this_DD1 silence_NN1 that_CST gives_VVZ
We can search iWeb corpus for:
It _VB _N who|that _V
1 IT IS GOD WHO IS 218
2 IT IS GOD WHO WORKS 138
3 IT IS GOD WHO HAS 129
4 IT ‘S PEOPLE WHO ARE 120
NBC Connecticut5 IT IS GOD WHO GIVES 102
6 IT IS WOMEN WHO ARE 73
7 IT IS PEOPLE WHO ARE 60
8 IT IS GOD THAT WORKETH 55
9 IT’S PEOPLE WHO HAVE 51
10 IT IS ALLAH WHO HAS 45
11 IT WAS GOD WHO GAVE 45
12 IT WAS GOD WHO HAD 43
13 IT IS GOD WHO MAKES 42
14 IT IS GOD WHO WILL 42
15 IT IS MEN WHO ARE 39
16 IT’S PEOPLE WHO DO 35
17 IT WAS GOD WHO MADE 35
18 IT WAS GOD WHO WAS 34
19 IT IS JESUS WHO IS 33
20 IT IS CHRIST WHO IS 33
21 IT WAS JESUS WHO SAID 32
22 IT’S MONEY THAT ‘S 31
23 IT’S WOMEN WHO ARE 31
24 IT IS GOD WHO DOES 31
25 IT IS WORK THAT IS 31
26 IT IS GOD WHO JUSTIFIES 28
27 IT IS PEOPLE WHO MAKE 28
28 IT IS WOMEN WHO HAVE 28
29 IT WAS FATE THAT BROUGHT 28
30 IT WAS GOD WHO CREATED 28
31 IT IS PEOPLE WHO HAVE 27
32 IT IS INFORMATION THAT IS 26
33 IT WAS PEOPLE WHO WERE 26
34 IT IS MONEY THAT IS 25
35 IT IS GOD WHO MADE 25
36 IT IS CHRIST THAT DIED 22
37 IT IS GOD THAT IS 22
38 IT IS GOD WHO SPEAKS 21
39 IT IS GOD WHO WORKETH 21
40 IT IS LOVE THAT IS 21
41 IT WAS JESUS WHO HAD 21
42 IT WAS PAUL WHO WAS 21
43 IT IS JESUS WHO HAS 20
44 IT IS PEOPLE THAT MAKE 20
45 IT WAS GOD WHO SAID 19
46 IT WAS MEN WHO WERE 18
47 IT IS ALLAH WHO CREATES 17
48 IT ‘S MEN WHO ARE 17
49 IT IS GOD WHO BRINGS 17
50 IT IS GOD WHO ARMS 17