Sentences with the word subject

Definition and Examples

A subject in a sentence is a noun, pronoun, person, thing or place who is doing the task or is being asked/instructed/suggested to do it. In other words, a ‘subject’ in a sentence performs the verb. It is therefore very easy to identify the ‘subject’ in a sentence if you have identified the ‘verb’. Subject is the one who is performing the verb or is expected, told or instructed to do so. For instance read the sentence given below-

  • My uncle is leaving for New York tomorrow.

To identify the subject in the above sentence, first identify the verb. The sentence has only one verb –‘leaving’, which is the Present Participle form of leave. Now look for the answer on who is performing the verb? That is, who is leaving for New York tomorrow?

The answer to the question is- My uncle! ‘My uncle’ is therefore the subject in the given sentence.

A subject may be a single word or a combination of several words. Different types of subjects with suitable examples are given below.

Types of Simple Subjects

A simple subject contains only one word as a subject. That is it may have a Proper Noun ( Tommy, Italy, Lilly etc), Improper Noun (dog, river, city etc) or a Personal Pronoun ( I, they, you etc) as a subject. The types of simple subjects with suitable examples are given below.

1) Proper Noun as Subject

In a sentence a subject may be a Proper Noun i.e. a single word name or a person, place, or thing. Proper Nouns are the name of an individual place or person. Consider the below sentences using a Proper Noun as a subject.

  • Tom Cruise is a good actor.
  • Mohit is writing a letter.
  • Amazon is the largest river by volume.
  • Chandigarh is a well planned city.
  • Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of America.

In all of the above sentences the Subject is a proper noun and very easy to identify- Tom Cruise, Mohit, Amazon, Chandigarh and Ronald Reagan.

2) Improper Noun as Subject

Improper Nouns may also be used as a subject in a sentence. An Improper or Common Noun is the name given to a thing, place or a class, like- city, cat, dog, etc. Below given are some examples of sentences using Improper Nouns as subjects.

  • The dog is barking loudly.
  • Elephant is a big animal.
  • Rivers overflow during monsoon.
  • The city is packed with tourists.
  • Pen is mightier than the sword.

All the above sentences have used improper nouns/common nouns as subjects- dog, elephant, river, city, and pen.

3) Personal Pronouns as Subjects

A personal pronoun is a word which can be used instead of Noun. Words like I, he, she, they, me, you, we etc are all personal pronouns. Some examples of sentences using personal pronouns as subjects are given below-

  • He is singing.
  • She is waiting for the bus.
  • I am going to market.
  • They are conducting a checkup.
  • You will take care of guests.

In the above sentences pronouns like- he, she, I, they and you are supposed to carry on the verb and are therefore the ‘Subjects’.

4) Interrogative Pronouns as Subjects

Interrogative Pronouns like who, what, which – can be used as simple subjects as shown below-

  • Who switched off the lights?
  • What is troubling you?
  • Which bus is going to Michigan?
  • Who is feeding the cat?

Complex Subjects

Unlike the simple subjects which are only single words; complex subjects are a combination of a proper/improper noun and a modifier.

Go through the below given sentences.

  • The dog who was sitting beside the road started chasing us.
  • The simplicity of Mahatma Gandhi was famous the world over.
  • The height of Mount Everest is a challenge for many adventurers.
  • The people from Indian villages are migrating to cities.
  • Indian students from good institutes are leaving their mother land.

Consider the first subject –

  • The dog who was sitting beside the road started chasing us.

First thing to do is to identify the verb; in this case the verb is – ‘chased’. Now ask yourself ‘who is performing the verb?’ i.e. ‘Who is chasing?’ Very simple – ‘The dog who was sitting beside the road’- which is the complex subject of the sentence. A complex subject always has a Noun as centre; in this case it is ‘dog’.

The ‘Complex Subject’ of remaining sentences are-

  • The simplicity of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • The height of Mount Everest.
  • The people from Indian villages.
  • Indian students from good institutes.

Compound Subjects

Sometimes a sentence has more than one person or thing performing the same task; such sentences have compound subjects as given below-

  • Rahul and Punit are going to college.
  • Kanpur and Allahabad are listed as smart cities.
  • Dogs and cats are pet animals.
  • Cars and buses are convenient modes of transport.
  • India and Nepal are jointly operating a bus service.

The above sentences have one or two nouns performing the same verb and therefore have ‘Compound Subjects’. – ‘Rahul and Punit’, ‘Kanpur and Allahabad’, Dogs and Cats’, ‘Cars and Buses’ and ‘India and Nepal’.

Exercise 1

Fill in the Blanks Exercises/Worksheets/Activities on Simple Subjects with Answers:

Complete the following sentences with appropriate subjects; also, verify your answers with those provided at the end of the exercise.

1) _________ is the capital of India.

2) _________ is the business capital of India.

3) _________ are faster modes of transport than trains.

4) __________ love watching cartoons.

5) __________ were barking.

6) ____________ is celebrated on 26th day of January every year.

7) My __________ is just a walk away from my house.

8) ________ did not listen to the lecture attentively.

9) _________ took the keys?

10) Whose __________ are these?

11) _________ are faster than calculators.

12) _________ is better than cure.

13) His __________ gave him good marks in the examination.

14) ___________ a day keeps the doctor away.

15) The __________ was examining his patients.

Answers- 1)Delhi, 2)Mumbai, 3)Planes, 4)children, 5)Dogs, 6)Republic Day, 7)school/office, 8) they/we/he/she/Rohit etc, 9)Who, 10)pens/books etc, 11)computers, 12)Prevention, 13)teacher, 14)an apple, 15) doctor.

MCQ Exercises/Worksheets/Activities on Simple Subjects with Answers:

In the below given sentences choose the correct ‘Subject’ from the choices given; also, verify your answers from those given at the end of the exercise:

1) __________ is eating burger.

  1. a) is
  2. b) burger
  3. c) Tommy

2) ________ is singing beautifully.

  1. a) She
  2. b) singing
  3. c) beautifully

3) __________ are leaving tomorrow.

  1. a) tomorrow
  2. b) they
  3. c) leaving

4) ___________ is running on terrace?

  1. a) Who
  2. b) running
  3. c) terrace

5) _________ are travelling to Calcutta yesterday.

  1. a) travelling
  2. b) we
  3. c) Calcutta

6) ___________ are a mode of transport through the oceans.

  1. a) transport
  2. b) ships
  3. c) oceans

7) _____________ is sitting on the chair and writing a letter.

  1. a) sitting
  2. b) chair
  3. c) he

8) My _________ is parked in the house on the pavement.

  1. a) car
  2. b) house
  3. c) pavement

9) ___________ is eating dinner with his father.

  1. a) dinner
  2. b) father
  3. c) Rohit

10) ____________ has more village population than Madhya Pradesh.

  1. a) village
  2. b) Uttar Pradesh
  3. c) Madhya Pradesh

11) ____________ can travel longer than small planes.

  1. a) Large planes
  2. b) travel
  3. c) small planes

12) _____________ are bigger mammals than elephants.

  1. a) elephants
  2. b) mammals
  3. c) whales

13) _____________ has longest National Highways than any other state.

  1. a) National Highway
  2. b) Uttar Pradesh
  3. c) Other state

14) ______________ was the first calculating machine developed by a man.

  1. a) calculating machine
  2. b) man
  3. c) abacus

15) My ___________ is the grandfather of my son.

  1. a) father
  2. b) son
  3. c) grandfather

Answers- 1)c, 2)a, 3)b, 4)a, 5)b, 6)b, 7)c, 8)a, 9)c, 10)b, 11)a, 12)c, 13)b, 14)c, 15)a

Exercise 2

Fill in the Blanks Exercises/Worksheets/Activities on complex Subjects with Answers:

Add suitable words to the below sentences so that they make a complete meaningful sentences having ‘Complex Subjects’; also cross check your answers with those provided at the end of the exercise; the answers also have ‘main noun’ and ‘complex subject’ of individual sentences.

Note- After completing the sentences try to identify the ‘main noun ‘and ‘complex subjects’.

1) The _________ who prescribed the __________ was an alumna of AIIMS.

2) The __________ who was sitting on the bench was eating a burger.

3) _________ which is a foreign make; gives good mileage.

4) The ____________ who taught ___________ was facilitated by the management.

5) The _________ with longer ___________ are more on the target of poachers.

6) ________ with lighter weight; float faster.

7) _________ who scores ________ in exams will be rewarded.

8) The ________ who talks less; thinks more.

9) The apple you ________ me was rotten.

10) The _______ which he was _________; ran out of fuel.

11) A ___________ car is parked beside my house.

12) The woman who was _________ for the bus, booked a cab to go home.

13) __________ who live in villages are more stress free than those living in cities.

14) The man __________ thinks quick, progresses faster.

15) The __________ which were sold in the afternoon; were meant for the evening show.

Answers- 1)doctor, medicine, 2)man/boy etc, 3)My car, 4)teacher, well, 5)elephants, tusks, 6)ships, 7)student, good, 8) person, 9) gave, 10)car, driving 11) black/red, 12) waiting, 13) people, 14) who, 15)tickets

Below given are the ‘Complex Subjects’ for the above example sentences-

1) ‘The doctor who prescribed the medicine’.

2) ‘The man who was sitting on the bench’.

3) ‘My car which is a foreign make’.

4) ‘The teacher who taught well’.

5) ‘The elephants with longer tusks’.

6) ‘Ships with lighter weight’.

7) ‘Student who scores well.’

8) ‘The person who talks less’.

9) ‘The apple you gave me’.

10) ‘The car which he was driving’.

11) ‘A black car’.

12) ‘The woman who was waiting for the bus’.

13) ‘People who live in villages’.

14) ‘The man who thinks quick’.

15) ‘The tickets those were sold in the afternoon’.

More Exercises/Worksheets/Activities on Complex Subjects with Answers:

Identify the ‘main noun- subject’ and the ‘complex subjects in the sentences given below-

1) A car with yellow paint speeded past our bike.

2) A small bird with yellow beak was perched on my terrace.

3) Those who have their ID will be allowed to sit.

4) The man wearing a black hat is her grandfather.

5) Cats with blue eyes are rare to find.

6) Men with arms were guarding the building.

7) Women with small children were going to the school.

8) Soldiers who went on leave were called back in emergency.

9) Children who behave well; are loved by everyone.

10) Birds with long feathers can glide easily.

11) Workers with hands on experience are preferred by the employers.

12) Localities with scarce amenities should be developed first.

13) Employees who are honest; are worth retaining and encouraging.

14) The dog standing at the gate, started chasing us.

15) Birds of a feather flock together.

Answers to the above exercise are given in the form of – (main subject/complex subject)

1) Car/ ‘A car with yellow paint’.

2) Bird/ ‘A small bird with yellow beak’.

3) Those/ ‘Those who have their ID’.

4) Man/ ‘The man wearing a black hat’.

5) Cats/’ Cats with blue eyes’.

6) Men/ ‘Men with arms’.

7) Women/ ‘Women with small children’.

8) Soldiers/ ‘Soldiers who went on leave’.

9) Children/ ‘Children who behave well’.

10) Birds/ ‘Birds with long feathers’.

11) Workers/ ‘Workers with hands on experience’.

12) Localities/ ‘Localities with scarce amenities’.

13) Employees/ ‘Employees who are honest’.

14) Dog/’ The dog standing at the gate’.

15) Birds/ ‘Birds of a feather’.

Exercise 3

Fill in the Blanks Exercises/Worksheet/Activities on Compound Subjects with Answers:

Complete the following compound sentences by using appropriate words (nouns) or coordinating conjunctions (and, or, neither, or, nor etc). Cross check your answers with those provided at the end of the exercise.

Note- Assumptions may be made wherever necessary.

1) Haryana ______ Himachal Pradesh are two states in western India.

2) Either Rohit _______ Sahil will be selected for the tournament.

3) The dogs ________ the cats are pet animals.

4) The old books _______ the old clothes have to be discarded.

5) We have decided to resale either the car ________ the bike.

6) Neither the car ________ the bike is in running condition.

7) Ram and his mother _________ going to the grocery stores.

8) Desktops _______ laptops ________ two advanced forms of computers.

9) Me_________ my neighbor clean the society every weekend.

10) ________ Ronit nor Roy are going to the party.

11) _________ Ronit or Roy is going to the party.

12) ______and cattle were the first to be domesticated by men.

13) Me ______ my brother can’t live without playing.

14) The ________ and the trouser should be ironed well.

15) Education ________ skill is the keys to success.

Answers- 1)and, 2)or, 3)and, 4)and, 5)or, 6)nor, 7)are, 8)and,are, 9)and, 10)neither, 11)either, 12)dogs, 13)and, 14)shirt, 15)and

The subjects in the above examples are-

1) ‘Haryana’ and ‘Himachal Pradesh’.

2) ‘Rohit’ and ‘Sahil’.

3) ‘Dogs’ and ‘Cats’.

4) ‘Books’ and ‘Clothes’.

5) ‘Car’ and ‘Bike’.

6) ‘Car’ and ‘Bike’.

7) ‘Ram’ and ‘his mother’.

8) ‘Desktops’ and ‘Laptops’.

9) ‘My neighbor’ and ‘me’.

10) ‘Ronit’ and ‘Roy’.

11) ‘Ronit’ and ‘Roy’.

12) ‘Dogs’ and ‘Cattle’.

13) ‘Me’ and ‘My brother’.

14) ‘Shirt’ and ‘Trouser’.

15) ‘Education’ and ‘skill’.

More Exercises/Worksheets/Examples on Compound Subjects with Answers:

Identify the compound subjects in the following sentences-

1) Dogs and cats are domestic animals.

2) Cars and bikes are different modes of transport.

3) Sam, Peter and Julie are going for the movie.

4) Tea and coffee are bad for health.

5) Me, my brother and my cousin Sam love cricket.

6) The pastry was delicious than the cupcake.

7) Neither you nor your friends are going on the trip.

8) Either he or his parents have to pay for the loss.

9) Neither Sam nor Lilly are going to get the medal this year.

10) Either the car or the bike has to be painted yellow.

11) You and your dog get quite noisy sometimes.

12) My phone and my laptop are always kept beside me.

13) His cousin and his parents are coming to see him.

14) Ram and Ronny are playing cricket since afternoon.

15) She and her mother are excellent cooks.

Answers-

1) ‘Dogs’ and ‘Cats’.

2) ‘Cars’ and ‘Bikes’.

3) ‘Sam’, ‘Peter’ and ‘Julie’.

4) ‘Tea’ and ‘Coffee’.

5) ‘Me’, ‘Brother’ and ‘Sam’.

6) ‘Pastry’ and ‘Cupcake’.

7) ‘You’ and ‘Your friends’.

8) ‘He’ and ‘His parents’.

9) ‘Sam’ and ‘Lilly’.

10) ‘Car’ and ‘Bike’.

11) ‘You’ and ‘your dog’.

12) ‘My phone’ and ‘My laptop’.

13) ‘His cousin’ and ‘His parents’.

14) ‘Ram’ and ‘Ronny’.

15) ‘She’ and ‘her mother’.

Related Links:

Predicate
Object

Источник

subject — перевод на русский

/ˈsʌbʤɪkt/

The spiel that I have cooked up for you this evening is on the subject of «Will you have ginger ale, or will you have white rum?»

Ётим вечером € расскажу вам басни на тему: испить ли вам имбирного пива или светлого рома?

I think we’d better change the subject.

Думаю, стоит сменить тему.

All right. Change the subject.

Хорошо, меняем тему.

— Changing the subject? — Not at all.

— Быстро сменил тему?

Don’t try to change the subject.

Да, и не пытайся переменить тему.

Показать ещё примеры для «тему»…

Well, you’re not a very easy subject to sketch. Your…

Вы не слишком удобный объект для рисования.

I am sure you’ve all heard the old wives’ tale that no hypnotised subject may be forced to do that which is repellent to his moral nature, whatever that may be.

Наверняка каждый из вас слышал бабьи сказки о том, что загипнотизированный объект будто бы невозможно заставить выполнить действия, которые противоречили бы его нравственным убеждениям, в чем бы они там ни состояли.

That city is a magnificent subject for study and I don’t intend to leave here until I’ve thoroughly investigated it.

Этот город отличный объект для изучения и я не уйду пока всё не исследую.

The subject has been selected.

Объект выбран.

Hold it long enough, and the subject remains permanently paralysed.

Удерживать достаточно долго, и объект надолго останется парализованным.

Показать ещё примеры для «объект»…

But boxing is my subject, to the rules laid down by the good Marquess of Queensberry.

А мой предмет — бокс.

Horses are my next-to-favorite subject.

Лошади — второй предмет моих интересов.

It’s my favourite subject.

Мой любимый предмет.

The subject of hypnotism brings us to a presentation… of the late Professor Harrington’s study and investigation… of people who follow witch cults… and practice devil worship.

Предмет гипнотизма подводит нас к представлению последней работы профессора Харрингтона — изучения последователей магических культов и практикующих поклонение дьяволу.

That’s really knowing your subject!

Ты и правда хорошо знаешь свой предмет!

Показать ещё примеры для «предмет»…

6:30 am, subject exercises daily with a walk round The Village.

6:30 утра, субъект совершает ежедневные упражнения, прогуливаясь вокруг Деревни.

Subject certainly watching, waiting.

Субъект определенно наблюдает, ждет. Агрессивность постоянная.

The subject cooling off.

Субъект освежается.

The subject will proceed to the old people’s home.

Субъект проследует в дом престарелых.

Subject recently received severe blow on skull. Damage healing.

Субъект недавно перенес сильный удар в череп.

Показать ещё примеры для «субъект»…

When a country gets confused, loyal subjects appear, so they say.

Говорят, когда страна в раздрае, верные подданные выходят на свет.

— Are we loyal subjects?

-А мы — верные подданные?

«Loyal subjects» is bombast.

«Верные подданные» — очень помпезно!

for we know enough, if we know we are the king’s subjects.

Мы знаем только, что мы подданные короля, и этого для нас достаточно.

In future in presence you shall conduct like all other subjects.

В будущем ведите себя как все подданные в моем присутствии.

Показать ещё примеры для «подданные»…

— That’s your subject, Papa.

— Это вопрос, папа?

You’ve arrived at a subject which interests me.

Этот вопрос меня интересует.

We are discussing a subject on which we need your expert opinion.

Мы обсуждаем важный вопрос и хотели спросить вас, как знатока.

I only want to know about that subject in general, not specially about my son.

— Нет-нет, этот вопрос мне интересен в целом, а не только из-за моего сына.

The subject is closed.

Вопрос закрыт.

Показать ещё примеры для «вопрос»…

Sir, if, as you have said, you do love the liberty of the subject, you will grant me, your king, a hearing before Parliament, which is the lords and commons assembled. Sir, I submit you seek only to delay the course of justice.

Если свобода человека вам так дорога, позвольте мне, …вашему королю, выступить перед …палатой лордов и всеобщим собранием.

You know, it’s a long time since I came across a hypnotic subject who turned out to be as good as you are.

Знаешь ли, прошло много времени с тех пор, как я наткнулся на человека, поддающегося гипнозу, который оказался таким же хорошим, как ты.

We want to know what effect it will have on a human subject.

Нам интересно, каково будет воздействие на человека.

— I’m afraid I’m not a very good subject.

-Я боюсь, вы выбрали для этого не того человека.

When you guys come into contact with the bones or other remains of the one whose human transmutation was the subject of an attempt at reanimation, you become unable to move.

Ты не можешь пошевелиться, если неподалёку кости или другие части тела человека, которого хотели воскресить путём человеческого преобразования. Да?

Показать ещё примеры для «человека»…

God put me to the test, and I see He also wanted to challenge me, subjecting me to a great test.

Господь дал мне испытание, хотел меня проверить, подвергнуть большому испытанию.

Each ship will be scanned, its cargo searched and its crew members and passengers subjected to genetic testing.

Корабль будет просканирован, груз подвергнуть обыску, а члены команды и пассажиры обязаны пройти генетическое тестирование.

How dare you subject her to this?

Как вы посмели подвергнуть ее всему этому?

How dare you subject your kids to it?

Как вы посмели подвергнуть своих детей этому?

I’m going to subject you to a field that will enhance the nucleotide bonds.

Я собираюсь подвергнуть вас облучению, это увеличит нуклеотидные связи.

Показать ещё примеры для «подвергнуть»…

One of our early test subjects described it as being like death.

Один из наших ранних подопытных описывал это состояние как подобное смерти.

None of our test subjects has returned to… normality.

Hикто из подопытных не возвращался к нормальному состоянию

It’s an aerosolized gas which in small doses… Causes anxiety and paranoia in its subject.

Это аэрозольный газ, который в малых дозах вызывает у подопытных панику и параноидальное поведение.

Irregular molecular stimulation noted in subject seeds.

Нерегулярное молекулярное волнение отмечено в подопытных семенах.

Anyway, the experiment in which these two subjects… are to be placed into a dry freeze… for exactly one year is set to begin tomorrow.

Вобщем, эксперимент в котором двое подопытных… поместят в сухую заморозку… ровно на один год, планируется начать завтра.

Показать ещё примеры для «подопытных»…

In the meantime, I prefer to change the subject.

А пока давайте сменим тему.

I’d like to change the subject.

Давайте сменим тему.

Let me change the subject.

Позволь, сменим тему…

Please, change the subject. Look at her blushing.

Сменим тему.

— Ah. John, why don’t we change the subject?

— Джон, давайте сменим тему.

Показать ещё примеры для «сменим тему»…

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Источник

1. What is the Subject of a Sentence?

A subject is the person, place, idea, or thing that a sentence is about. It’s the noun that is “doing” something in the sentence. Every sentence needs at least one to function properly—otherwise, the sentence wouldn’t be about anything! So, they are absolutely crucial to writing and speaking in English. In fact, subjects might be the most important parts of sentences.

To find a sentence’s subject, usually all you have to ask is: what is this sentence about? Many sentences have only one subject, but they can also have two or more. Sometimes the subject is only one word, called a simple subject; sometimes subjects share a verb and become a compound subject; or sometimes they include other descriptive words, called a complete subject.

2. Examples of Subjects

Every sentence has at least one subject, and it can be almost anything. Because they are the focus, subjects usually come at the beginning of a sentence; many times they are the first word or words. The subjects are underlined in the examples below:

  • I really love the county fair.                             “I” as subject
  • He doesn’t like popcorn.                                 “He” as subject
  • The dog loves popcorn.                                  “the dog” as subject
  • Sally and Sam went to the fair together.         “Sally” and “Sam” as subjects
  • County fairs always have popcorn stands.     “County fairs” as subject
  • Dogs love popcorn, but cats like soda.           “dogs” and “cats” as subjects

3. Parts of Subjects

Sometimes a subject is only one word, but sometimes it includes modifiers, or can be a noun phrase or gerund. Let’s start with this sentence:

The dog ate the popcorn. Subject = “dog”

  1. Modifiers

A modifier is an adjective or adverb that “modifies” other words in a sentence to make it more descriptive. A subject with a modifier gives you a clearer idea of the noun that the sentence is about. Here’s an example:

The fat dog ate the popcorn. Subject = “fat dog”

This sentence includes the modifier “fat” to better describe the dog.

a. Noun Phrases

A phrase is a group of two or more words that work together but don’t form a clause; and a noun phrase has a noun or pronoun as the main word, and acts like a noun in a sentence. Since it acts like a noun, a noun phrase can be the subject of a sentence, like this:

The fat dog with brown fur ate all the popcorn. Subject = “the fat dog with brown fur”

So, this sentence is about “the fat dog with brown fur,” not just any dog. Here, the phrase “the fat dog with brown fur” works like a noun. You could easily replace this phrase with only “the dog,” but using a phrase better describes the dog and the situation.

b. Gerunds

A gerund is a word that ends in “ing” but functions as a noun in a sentence, NOT as a verb. Because gerund and gerund phrases work like nouns, they can also be subjects, like this:

Eating is my dog’s favorite hobby.                   Subject = gerund “eating”

Eating popcorn is my dog’s favorite hobby.    Subject = gerund phrase “eating popcorn”

Remember, a gerund works like a noun, not a verb!

3. Types of Subjects

Sometimes the subject of a sentence can’t be as simple as one word, so we need different types in order to be able to say what we mean. There are three main types of subjects: simple, compound, and complete.

a. Simple Subject

A simple subject is the main word that tells what a sentence is about. It does not include modifiers or other words. Here are some examples:

  • Sally went to the county fair. Person as subject
  • The fair was famous for its popcorn. Place as subject
  • The hot popcorn was buttery. Thing as subject

A sentence can have more than one simple subject, if they have their own verbs (green):

  • Sally went to the county fair, and Sam drove to the market. Subjects “Sally” and “Sam”
  • The dog ate popcorn, and the cat drank Subjects “dog” and “cat”
  • The popcorn smelled buttery, and the soda tasted Subjects “popcorn” and “soda”

As you can see, each of the subjects has their own verb. For instance, the first sentence has the simple subjects “Sally” and “Sam,” but Sally “went” and Sam “drove.” So, while they are both subjects, they are each doing their own thing.

If two or more subjects use the same verb, then the sentence has a compound subject.

b. Compound Subject

When two or more subjects in a sentence share the same verb, it makes a compound subject:

  • Sally and Sam went to the county fair.
  • The dog and the cat ate popcorn.
  • The popcorn and the soda are delicious.

For a compound subject to occur, the subjects MUST share the same verb. In the first sentence above, both Sally and Sam do the same thing: they “went” to the county fair. Since they both did the same thing, they can share one verb. Without a compound subject, the sentence would look like this:

Sally went to the county fair, and Sam went to the county fair.

You can see that this sentence is unnecessarily long. We don’t need to say these two things separately, which is why we have compound subjects.

c. Complete Subject

A complete subject is made up of all of the words that tell what a sentence is about, including modifiers:

  • The fat dog with brown fur ate all of the popcorn.
  • The big dog and the small cat went to the county fair.
  • Silly Sally and her best friend Sam drove to the fair.

All of these sentences include modifiers that add to the subject. Let’s look more closely at the third sentence:

Silly Sally and her best friend Sam drove to the fair.

Here, the simple subjects are Sally and Sam. But, the sentence also includes the modifier “silly” to describe Sally, and the noun phrase “her best friend Sam” to describe her friend. So, the complete subject of the sentence includes all of the words that make up the subject. If we ask the question “what is this sentence about?”, our answer is the two subjects “Silly Sally and her best friend Sam.”

4. How to Avoid Mistakes with Subjects

As you now know, the subject is the main thing a sentence is about, and all sentences need one. But, what’s more, all subjects need a verb to show an action that is being done. So remember, a subject is nothing without its verb, and a sentence doesn’t exist without its subject!

Furthermore, you want to be sure not to mistake an object or prepositional phrase for a subject.

a. Objects

It’s important to be able to distinguish between the subject and an object in a sentence. Sometimes it can be confusing, so remember this rule: a subject “does” the verb, and an object “gets” the action of the verb. Let’s look at this sentence:

The dog is cooking popcorn for the cat.

This sentence has only one subject: the dog. That’s because the dog “does” the action “cooking.” The cat is NOT a subject—it is an object, because it “gets” the popcorn. Let’s try another:

The dog danced for the rabbit, and the cat slept.

Here, there are two subjects, the dog and the cat, and one object, rabbit. The dog does the dancing, the rabbit gets to see the dancing, and the cat does the sleeping.

b. Prepositional Phrases

A preposition is a word that indicates location, like in, at, with, on, beside, before, after, to name a few. Prepositional phrases combine a preposition with a noun. Like subjects, they often come at the beginning of the sentence, but, they are NOT the subject—they only give details.

Here are some examples:

The dog went to the county fair.                      Subject = dog

Last night, the dog went to the county fair.     Subject = dog

The dog cooked popcorn.                    Subject = dog

At home, the dog cooked popcorn.      Subject = dog

Adding a prepositional phrase does not affect a sentence’s subject. The prepositional phrases just add details about the subject itself, they do NOT work like nouns, and can’t be the sentence’s subject. An easy trick to remember is that the prepositional phrase can usually be switched to the end of the sentence:

The dog went to the county fair last night.

BUT, you couldn’t do the same thing with a subject, like this:

Went to the county fair the dog. Incorrect!

Now, let’s review!

  • To find a sentence’s subject, you just need to ask: what is this sentence about?
  • The main word that tells what a sentence is about is the simple subject.
  • When more than one subject share the same verb, you have a compound subject.
  • A subject together with all of its modifiers is the complete subject.
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The subject in an English sentence

What is the subject?

Basically, the subject carries out the action that the verb in the sentence indicates or expresses. Thus, it shows who or what is doing something. In English grammar, it is one of the most critical parts of a sentence (which means it is a constituent) and cannot be left out without making it ungrammatical. All types of sentences must contain one – except for imperatives. Note in detail:

  • Subjects are typically persons, animals, or things (concrete or abstract). They act in conjunction with the verb:
    • “Andrew is cooking dinner.”
      • In this positive statement, the person Andrew becomes the subject and performs the activity represented by the verb ‘to cook’.
    • “Friendship doesn’t need daily conversation.”
      • This negated sentence contains the abstract noun ‘friendship’, which can also be subject.
    • “Have they invited you to the wedding?”
      • Interrogative clauses also have a subject, represented by ‘they’ here.
  • At times, we cannot really say that the subject is acting, that is, performing an action. Then, it simply ‘is’ something. In such a case, it often appears with the verb ‘to be’ or similar ones accordingly:
    • “The twins are here.”
      • The subject ‘the twins’ does not act here but simply expresses the verb ‘to be’ (in this occurrence: being here) and the relation to the location (place).

Note: The subject must always agree with the verb in number and person. This obligation is called grammatical agreement.

How can you find the subject in a sentence?

It is possible to determine the subject of a sentence with the questions “Who …?” (for persons) and “What …?” (for things and matters). These questions always need to contain the verb belonging to the sentence. Each sentence has only one subject – there can never be more than one. Compare:

  • An example that shows how to find the subject in a short sentence:
    • “The train is leaving.”
      • Question: “What is leaving?”
      • Answer: “The train.”
      • Here, the subject is the thing ‘train’, which performs the activity ‘leaving’. Therefore, the question word ‘what’ is appropriate.
  • In longer sentences, the determination may be a little bit more challenging, but the checking questions fit here as well. The following example contains a subject, a verb, an object, and two adverbials:
    • “Tomorrow morning, all the students are taking the exam in the lecture hall.”
      • Question: “Who is taking the exam?”
      • Answer: “All the students.”
      • This time, the compound phrase ‘all the students’ is the subject, which performs the action ‘taking the exam’. Consequently, the question needs to be constructed with ‘who’.

What can the subject consist of?

The subject often consists of only one word but can also consist of several or even a whole sentence. The possible length is not limited.

In detail, the following types of words or parts of speech can form/represent the subject of a sentence:

  • Nouns, possibly together with additional determiners or adjectives as a noun phrase:
    • “Karl arrived late.”
      • Here, the subject is a person, more precisely a noun depicting a name (Karl).
    • “The house has been renovated recently.”
      • In this sentence, the noun ‘house’ is combined with its determiner ‘the’ to form a multi-word subject.
  • Pronouns, especially personal pronouns:
    • “We went home.”
      • Here, the subject pronoun ‘we’ is used.
  • Nominalised words, such as verbs appearing in the ing-form as a gerund, or the to-infinitive can be the subject of the sentence:
    • “Nowadays, blogging is a widespread hobby.”
    • “To visit Chile has been our plan for a while.”
  • Question words, such as ‘who, what’, and ‘how many’, can also assume the role of the subject:
    • “Who baked the cake?”
      • This interrogative clause is a typical subject question.
    • “How many came to the party?”
      • The question word ‘how’ is combined with ‘many’ for countable nouns here.
  • Similarly, whole sentences may take over the function of the subject. Then, they are subordinate clauses:
    • “What we want to know is your motivation for the job.”
      • This dependent clause contains ‘we’ as its subject.

Where does the subject appear in an English sentence?

In English sentences, the subject usually comes before the verb (which is the full verb), just as a rule for the word order SVO in English syntax says. In very many cases, this is also the beginning of the sentence although adverbials (time, place, manner, etc.), however, may additionally appear in front of it. Compare the examples in the table:

Subject … Adverbial Subject Verbs Object Adverbial
… at the beginning of the sentence – The apples have fallen – from the tree.
… after an adverbial of time Yesterday my friend phoned me. –
… after an adverbial of place At home my girlfriend is waiting. – –

Careful: Foreign language learners must not confuse the position of the subject or the entire word order with that in other languages. There, it may appear elsewhere in the sentence.

Further explanations related to the ‘Subject in an English sentence’

The following explanations are related to the topic ‘The subject in English grammar’ and may be interesting as well:

  • Subject–auxiliary inversion in English
  • The agent in English grammar
  • Dummy subject
  • Exercise 1: subject
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27
The Subject

The
subject is a principal part of a two-member sentence. It refers to
the person or thing whose action or state is defined by the
predicate. The subject controls the form of the verb which typically
follows (in declarative sentences) the subject.

14.3.1.1.
Ways of Expressing the Subject

The
subject can be expressed by
different
parts of speech.

1. A
noun in the common case:

Science
is organized knowledge. Tom has just left.

Occasionally
a noun in the independent possessive case is used as the subject of
the sentence:

My
aunt’s is a nice place.

The
jury’s was not the right approach.

2. A
pronoun:

a) personal
in the nominative case:

I
am
hungry;

b) in
a very informal style the objective personal pronoun is used in
elliptical responses with too,
nor and
neither.

I’m
glad it’s Friday. —
Me
too! (=
I am too)/Us
too!
(=
We are too);

I
don’t want to do it. —
Nor
me / Me neither!;

  1. demonstrative:
    This
    is not right;

  2. compound:
    Everybody
    knows it;

  3. distributive:
    All
    is OK;

  4. negative:

Nothing
ever happens to me;

g) independent
possessive:
Yours is
not the best plan;

h)
interrogative: Who
has done it?

3. A
substantivized adjective or participle:

The
old believe everything.

The
middle-aged suspect everything.

The
young know everything.

4. A
numeral (cardinal and ordinal):

The
two were evidently at a loss. The first and the second stood silent.

5. An
infinitive:

To
err is human.

6. A
gerund:

Jogging
keeps you fit.

7. Any
part of speech used as a quotation;

«On»
is a preposition.

14.3.1.2.
Structural Classification of the Subject

When
expressed by a verbal, subjects structurally fall into three groups:
the
simple subject, the phrasal subject, and
the
complex subject.

1. The
simple subject is
expressed by a single word-form:

To
see is to believe, (a
single infinitive) Lying is
a great sin. (a
single gerund)

2. The
phrasal subject is
expressed by a group of words functioning as one syntactic unit:

To
see her is to fall in love with her. (an
infinitive phrase) Continuous
lying is always monotonous, (a
gerundial phrase)

3. The
complex subject is
expressed by a predicative complex:

For
us to see her was a rare treat, (an
infinitive construction) Her
lying to everybody was very monotonous, (a
gerundial construction)

14.3.1.3.
It
as
the Subjects of the Sentence

When
the pronoun it
is
used as the subject of a sentence, it may represent a thing, a living
being or a notion and then it is a notional
subject.

When
the pronoun it
has
no definite reference and performs a purely grammatical function of
the subject, it
is
a formal
subject also
called empty
or
dummy
it.

1. Notional
it. When it is a notional subject, the pronoun it
has
the following meanings. It
stands
for a definite thing or abstract idea — personal it. The personal
it
is
usually translated into Russian with the help of personal pronouns
он,
она,
оно:

The
house was dark. It was evidently empty.

His
theory was not impossible. It was inappropriate.

It
points
out some person or thing expressed by a predicative noun or a pronoun
(a noun or a pronoun that follows the verb be) — cataphoric
demonstrative it.
Sentences
of this type name people and things:

Who
is there? —
It’s
Tom.

Who’s
broken the cup? — It’s him.

It
refers
to the thought expressed in a preceding statement — anaphoric
demonstrative it:

He
came early. It made us change our plans.

Demonstrative
it
is
usually translated into Russian by это.

2. Formal
it.
The
formal subject it
can
be found in the following sentence patterns.

Impersonal
it
is
used in sentences

a) that
describe the state of weather, environment:

It
is raining there now. (the
verbal predicate denotes an action)

It
is dark /dirty I nice here, (the
nominal part of the predicate denotes a state and is expressed by an
adjective)

b) that
present the idea of time, temperature, distance:

It
is
morning/late/5
p.m.
now.

It’s
time to do it.

It’s
a long way to Tipperary.

c) that
describe situations. In this case there is always a link verb
and
a predicative clause to follow:

It
seemed that she knew everything.

It
appeared he had calmed down.

Introductory
it introduces the real (extraposed) subject of the sentence expressed
by an infinitive, a gerund, a verbal phrase or construction, a
subject clause in a complex sentence:

It’s
really good to see you.

It’s
no use doing this again.

It’s
nice for you to talk about such things.

It
seemed quite evident that she knew everything.

Sentences
with introductory it
thus
contain two subjects: the formal introductory subject it
and
the extraposed subject expressed as stated above. Such sentences can
be transformed (contrary to the growing tendency) into sentences with
the meaningful subject in the initial position:

To
see you is really good.

That
she knew everything seemed quite evident.

Emphatic
it
is
used in the principal clause of a complex sentence to emphasize the
predicative — the word that follows the verb be.
Sentences
with emphatic it
are
often called «cleft» sentences because a simple sentence is
split up (cleft) into two clauses:

Tom
phoned Mary yesterday, (simple
sentence, no emphasis)

It
was Tom who phoned Mary yesterday, (subject
is emphasised)

It
was Mary who Tom phoned yesterday, (object
is emphasised)

It
was yesterday that Tom phoned Mary, (adverbial
is emphasised)

Note
that after emphatic it
the
verb be is always singular:

It
was Tom and Mary that talked over the telephone yesterday.

The
conjunction that
is
normally used in sentences with emphatic it.
When
the subject of the simple sentence is emphasized, who
(referring
to persons) is possible instead of that. To emphasize the object
referring to people, who and whom are possible instead of that:

It
was in London that they met.

It
is Tom that/who took my girlfriend from me.

It
is Mary that I who I whom Tom took away from me.

When
the emphasized subject is a pronoun, there is a choice between the
nominative and the objective cases of the personal pronoun:

It
was me who opened the letter, (informal)

It
was I who opened the letter, (formal)

Emphatic
it
can
emphasize any member of the simple sentence except the predicate.

3.
The
formal introductory subject there.
There
are sentences where the notional subject is introduced by the word
there
(unstressed)
with a simple predicate expressed by the verb be
(appear, follow, live, come, exist) to
follow:

There
is a book on the desk.

There
appeared a stranger at the door.

Once
upon a time there lived a king.

Such
sentences express the idea of the existence or coming into existence
of a person or a non-person denoted by the notional subject and are
called existential sentences.

The
construction with there
allows
new and /or important information to come at the end of the sentence
thus making this information more prominent.

The
form of the verb be
normally
agrees with the notional subject, but in informal English the verb
may be singular even when the postponed subject is plural:

There
are two students in the classroom.

There
is two students in the classroom, (informal)

The
formal subject there
should
not be confused with the adverbial of place expressed by the adverb
there
(always
stressed): There
we shall meet you.

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