[Grammar] Cleft sentence usage of "to buy"

[Buddy42]

Dear teachers,

I'm pondering about a cleft-sentence...and the usage of "to buy".

Usually you say: to buy sb. sth. or to buy sth. for sb.

The example is:

Henry bought his parents a new car in London.

So I can say:
-> It was Henry who bought his parents a car in London.
-> It was Henry who bought a car for his parents.


But what am I to do here?

-> It was a new car that Henry bought (for) his parents in London.
-> It was his parents that Henry bought a car (for)

Do I have to insert "for" here? Or is it also possible to leave it out?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Roman55]

It's optional in the first and required in the second.

 

[Buddy42]

Thank you for your quick reply, Roman55!

Is "for" also optional in the following construction:

What he bought (for) his parents was a house in London. ?

 

[bhaisahab]

Yes, "for" is optional there.

 

[emsr2d2]

Note that you're not "pondering about" a question. You are simply "pondering". You can say "I am wondering about something".