8.12 USAGE NOTE

If you want to emphasize that something happened at a particular time, you can use 'It was' followed by an expression such as 'six o'clock' or 'three hours later', followed by a 'when'-clause.

For example, instead of saying 'I left at six o'clock', you say 'It was six o'clock when I left'.

• It was about half past eight when he arrived at Sutwick.
• It was late when he returned.

This is an example of a cleft structure. Cleft structures are explained in paragraphs 10.25 to 10.30.