It was Tom that won first place in the competition.

[diamondcutter]

It was Tom that won first place in the competition.
(By me.)

It’s a cleft sentence. Can the conjunction “that” be omitted?

 

[5jj]

It is sometimes omitted in informal conversation, but that's incorrect.

 

[diamondcutter]

Is it the reason that the conjunction “that” is the subject of the clause?

What about this sentence? Is it common to omit the word “that”, which is the object of the clause?
It was first place that Tom won in the competition.

 

[diamondcutter]

I think it's more common to omit the word "that" when it acts as the object of the clause than when it acts as the subject of the clause in the cleft sentence.
For example,
1. It was Tom that won first place in the competition. (Omitting “that” in this sentence is less common and incorrect.)
2. It was first place that Tom won in the competition. (Omitting “that” in this sentence is more common and acceptable.)

What do you say?

 

[jutfrank]

1. It was Tom that won first place in the competition. (Omitting “that” in this sentence is less common and incorrect.)
2. It was first place that Tom won in the competition. (Omitting “that” in this sentence is more common and acceptable.)

What do you say?

Use that in both sentences. In1., you can also use who.