The French c'est-cleft : function and frequency

National audienceThis article will examine the French c'est-cleft, a marked word order construction that can be considered as the formal equivalent of the English it-cleft. The French c'est-cleft is considerably more frequent than the English it-cleft, being widespread both in spoken language and writing. I discuss some of the formal language-specific conditions that contribute to the greater use of the c'est-cleft in French