Subjects for intermediate learners

subject pronouns subjects

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.

intermediate advanced

What Are Subjects?

The subject of a sentence 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

Basically, there are three main types of subjects and we will learn about two of them here.

Simple Subjects
Compound Subjects
Complete Subjects

Simple Subjects

The simple subject is a single word that is typically positioned at the beginning of the sentence, and it may be preceded by a definite or an indefinite article.

It can be a personal pronoun:

She eats lunch at 2:30.

They are going shopping.

It can be a proper name:

George is wearing a t-shirt today.

Abraham cannot decide what to eat for dinner.

It can be a collective noun:

The class is going on a trip to Italy.

The family will come to the meeting tonight.

Subject Personal Pronouns

All personal pronouns can be used as subjects in sentences. Let us have a quick review of them:

	Singular Pronouns	Plural Pronoun
First Person	I	We
Second Person	You	You
Third Person (Male)	He	They
Third Person (Female)	She	They
Third Person (Non-human)	It	They

Compound Subjects

Compound subjects consist of two or more nouns or pronouns. Look:

Dave and Jackie are going on a trip together.

My sister and I will come to the party at 8 o'clock.

Tip!

Typically, 'and' is used to connect the nouns or pronouns in compound subjects.

Subject: Placement

In English, there are different types of sentences. Below, you can see where the subject is placed in each type:

The subject normally comes before the verb.

She talks a lot.

The cat is asleep.

In questions, the subject comes after the auxiliary and before the main verb.

Do you know where we are?

Can she speak English?

In imperative sentences, the subject is hidden.

Go! (You go.)

Here in this example, the subject is omitted because it is an order.

Speak faster! (You speak faster)