Emphasis & advanced · CEFR C1 · Fluent
What I need is… — English emphasis and inversion
Opening with "what" delays the point by one clause, which makes the listener wait for it. Very common in speech, and not formal at all.
The shape
What + clause + is / was + the point
Build up to your point instead of opening with it.
In Hindi
"what" से शुरू करने पर मुख्य बात एक उपवाक्य बाद आती है, जिससे सुनने वाला उसका इंतज़ार करता है।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
What I need is to going home. | What I need is to go home. After "is" the form is "to go", not "to going". |
Learn these first
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Questions people ask
- What is the what i need is… used for?
- Opening with "what" delays the point by one clause, which makes the listener wait for it. Very common in speech, and not formal at all. In practice: build up to your point instead of opening with it.
- How do you form the what i need is…?
- What + clause + is / was + the point.
- What is the most common mistake with the what i need is…?
- Saying “What I need is to going home.” instead of “What I need is to go home.”. After "is" the form is "to go", not "to going".
Where what i need is… fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
What I need is… is a CEFR C1 structure — the fluent band — and it belongs to emphasis & advanced. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
Practise the what i need is… →