זה … ש־

Highlighting One Part of a Sentence

Level 5

A demonstrative followed by a noun or pronoun and a ש-clause can identify who did something or what item is intended. Context determines the focus.

How It Works

The Identified Part

זה דני שפתח את הדלת uses a masculine person and זו דנה שפתחה את הדלת a feminine person. These careful examples use a subordinate verb agreeing with the actual actor. Conversational demonstrative gender leveling is also encountered.

An Item or Contrast

זה הספר שחיפשתי identifies the book I was looking for. In a contrastive context, זה הספר שקראתי, לא השני highlights which book was read. The structure alone does not force a correction if the context simply identifies an item.

Different Agreement Jobs

In זה אני שכתבתי, כתבתי agrees with the first-person actor. This is the transparent agreement pattern taught here. Third-person forms also occur in conversational clefts referring to a first-person participant, so they should not be labeled inherently ungrammatical.

Examples (4)

  1. זה דני שפתח את הדלת.

    It was Dani who opened the door.

    The structure identifies the male opener.

  2. זו דנה שפתחה את הדלת.

    It was Dana who opened the door.

    The feminine person controls פתחה.

  3. זה אני שכתבתי את ההודעה.

    It was I who wrote the message.

    The subordinate verb remains first person.

  4. זה הספר שחיפשתי.

    This is the book I was looking for.

    The structure identifies the intended book.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

זה … ש־Level 5Highlighting One Part of a Sentence

Learn This First

Focus an identified participant through a cleft rather than an ordinary demonstrative phrase.