LoginSubjects
In English grammar, the subject of a clause is the noun referring to the person or thing that is doing the action of the verb. We will learn all about it here.
What Are Subjects?
In grammar, the subject is the noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that performs the action or is the focus of the sentence. It is what or whom the sentence is about.
Subjects: Types
There are three main types of subjects. They are:
- Simple subjects
- Compound subjects
- Complete subjects
Let's discuss each in more detail:
1. Simple Subjects
'Simple subject' refers to a single noun or pronoun (sometimes preceded by a definite or an indefinite article) that functions as the subject of a sentence. It can be a:
- Subject personal pronoun
- Masculine or feminine proper name
- Collective noun
A subject pronoun
A subject pronoun
A female proper name
A male proper name
A collective noun
Subject Personal Pronouns
As you saw in the examples above, the subject of a sentence can be a personal pronoun. In the table below, you can see the list of English subject personal pronouns.
2. Compound Subjects
Compound subjects, as their name suggests, consist of two or more nouns or pronouns that are joined by a coordinating conjunction. Take a look at these examples:
Here, we have two separate nouns 'Jake' and 'Sally' that are joined together with 'and.'
As you can see, sometimes we have a mix of nouns and pronouns, but they're all still the subject of our sentence.
3. Complete Subjects
A complete subject is the entire noun phrases or noun clauses that includes the simple subject (the main noun or pronoun) and any words or phrases that modify it. Look at the examples:
Warning!
Keep in mind that you cannot pick the head of the noun phrase and single out one word (e.g. the boy in the example above) as the subject of the sentence. Because the subject is not just any boy; it is 'the boy standing next to Max.'
What Does a Subject Do?
the subject of the sentence is 'the bear'
A subject in a sentence can do different things:
- The subject performs an action
Malcom is
- When the verb of the sentence is a linking verb, the subject is described and identified
My sister
- When the sentence is in passive voice, the subject has an action done to it
My sister
Finding The Subject
One simple way to find the subject in a sentence is to find the verb. When you identify the verb, you can identify the subject.
- In an declarative sentence, the subject usually appears before the verb;
- In an interrogative sentence, the subject usually comes after the auxiliary and before the main verb
Does
- In an imperative sentence, the subject is normally implied and therefore omitted
Eat! → (
Tricky Subjects!
1. Inverted Sentences
Sometimes people change the positions of parts of the sentence for emphasis or for literary purposes. In such cases, the subject usually appears after the verb.
Behind the picture was
Find the verb first, and then ask yourself 'what was?' The safety box was. The safety box with all the money was behind the picture.
2. Sentences with prepositional phrases
When a sentence begins with an adverbial phrase or adverb, it is important to identify the subject of the sentence because the subject is never the adverbial phrase or adverb itself. Rather, it is typically a noun or pronoun that comes after the adverbial phrase or adverb. For example:
After the interview,
The adverbial phrase is part of the predicate, even if it is at the beginning of the sentence.
Here are
You can rearrange the sentence to its normal order: 'The books you wanted are here'. In this case, 'here' is an adverb.
Review
Subjects are usually used at the beginning of the sentences to show who does the action or sometimes the subject is something which the whole sentence is about, and it actually does nothing. There are three types of subjects as follows:
| Subjects | Simple | Compound | Complete |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examples | you/Alex/a girl/the boy | my sister and I/Nina and her boyfriend | A five-year-old boy/The woman in charge of the disaster |
Remember that it is not forced to have a subject at the beginning of a sentence. For example, in imperatives most of the time the subject (you) is omitted. Sometimes subjects are in the middle of a sentence as it follows another clause which is put at the beginning.
Look at the subject pronouns below:
| Subjective pronouns | Suitable to be verb | |
|---|---|---|
| First person singular | I | am |
| Second person singular | You | are |
| Third person singular | He | is |
| Third person singular | She | is |
| Third person singular | It | is |
| First person plural | We | are |
| Second person plural | You | are |
| Third person plural | They | are |
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