Definition and Examples
The subject of a sentence occasionally does something to someone or something else. In simple, A subject in a sentence can be a noun, pronoun, person place or thing that does work or is being instructed or asked to do. The subject of a clause or sentence is the noun (a person, place, or thing) that performs, controls, or is responsible for the action of a verb.
The subject usually appears before its verb and is made up of at least one noun, any grammatical element functioning as a noun, or a pronoun standing in place
The simple subject is the main word in the complete subject
The Subject
The subject usually appears before its verb and is made up of at least one noun, any grammatical element functioning as a noun, or a pronoun standing in place of a noun.
For example:
| Example Sentence | Type of Subject |
|---|---|
| “Computers can process numbers very quickly.” | Noun |
| “A boy I know owns a motorcycle.” | Noun phrase |
| “Someone ate my cake! | Pronoun |
| “Swimming is great exercise.” | Gerund |
A group of words with a subject and verb that expresses a complete idea.
There are several other types of grammatical constructions that can be used as the subject of a sentence or clause, as well as instances in which the subject’s position in relation to the verb changes. To learn more, continue on to the next section in this post.
Compound Subjects
When two or more subjects have the same verb, it is called a compound subject
Usually joined by “and” or “or”
Examples
- Emma, Joy, and Alisha carried their books.
- Either New York or Los Angeles is our destination.
- English and science are exciting classes.
- After smelling smoke, the musicians and their fans were evacuated.
Predicates
The predicate is made up of at least one finite verb, the action of which is performed or controlled by the subject.
In addition to a finite verb, the predicate can also (but does not always) include participles, objects, complements, and modifiers. In most cases, the predicate comes after the subject in a sentence or clause, although some parts of the predicate (especially adverbial modifiers) can sometimes appear before the subject.
Here are some examples, with the predicate:
| Example Sentence | Parts of Predicate |
|---|---|
| “I refuse.” | refuse — the intransitive finite verb in the present simple tense |
| “My family loves going to the beach each summer.” | loves — transitive finite verb in the present simple tense going to the beach — gerund phrase acting as the direct object of the verb loves each summer — adverbial phrase modifying the verb phrase loves going to the beach |
Only that which has the grammatical function of a noun can be the subject of a clause. This is because it is someone or something that is capable of performing or “controlling” the action of the verb. This function can be performed by each of the following:
- nouns – “Computers can process numbers very quickly.”
- noun phrases – “A boy I know owns a motorcycle.”
- pronouns – “Someone ate this cake!”
- gerunds – “Swimming is great exercise.”
- gerund phrases – “Traveling the world has been my lifelong
- dream.”
- infinitives – “To err is human; to forgive is divine.”
- infinitive phrase – “To fall in love can be both wonderful and
- tragic.”
- noun clauses – “Whoever knows the truth should come forward.”
- dummy pronouns – “There is nothing we can do for him now.”
Subject Positions
As we can see in the above examples, the subject most typically occurs at or near the beginning of a clause, preceding the main verb that describes the action of the clause (known as the finite verb).
Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement refers to using certain conjugations of verbs with singular subjects and different conjugations with plural subjects. This happens most noticeably with the verb to be, which becomes is or was with singular subject nouns and are or were with plural subjects.
For example:
- “My brother is back from college.” (singular present simple tense)
- “The company was in financial trouble.” (singular past simple tense)
- “Many people are frustrated with the government.” (plural present simple tense)
- “The computers were rather old.” (plural past simple tense)
For any other verb, we only need to make a change if it is in the present simple tense. For most verbs, this is accomplished by adding an “-s” to the end if it is singular and leaving it in its base form if it is plural.
For example:
• “My father runs his own business.” (singular)
• “But his sons run it when he’s away.” (plural)
• “The dog wags his tail when he is happy.” (singular)
• “Dogs sometimes wag their tails when they’re angry or scared.” (plural)
The verbs have and do also only conjugate for singular subjects in the present simple tense, but they have irregular forms for this: has and does.
For example:
- “The apple has a mark on it.” (singular)
- “All the apples have marks on them.” (plural)
- “My teacher does not think it’s a good idea.” (singular)
- “The other teachers do not mind, though.” (plural)
Finally, the modal auxiliary verbs (will, would, shall, should, can, could, might, must, and ought to) do not conjugate for singular or plural subjects—they always remain the same. For instance:
- “This phone can also surf the Internet!” (singular)
- “Most phones can do that now.” (plural)
- “The president will arrive in Malta next week.” (singular)
- “The other diplomats will arrive shortly after that.” (plural)
Questions
To better understand this, let’s look at a comparison between a normal question and a subject question.
First, let’s look at two statements:
A) I saw Mary.
B) Anne saw me.
If we were asking a question to which sentence A was the answer, it would be a normal question:
• “Who did you see?”
• “I saw Mary.”
The subject in the normal question, you, corresponds to the subject in the answer, I. Since this is a normal question, we use the auxiliary verb, did, to form the past tense of the main verb, see. If we were asking a question to which sentence B was the answer, it would be a subject question:
• “Who saw you?”
Quiz
Where is the subject usually placed in a clause?
a) Before an adjective
b) After an adjective
c) Before the main verb
d) After the main verb
When does a third-person verb conjugate differently to accommodate the subject?
a) When the subject is singular, in the present simple tense
b) When the subject is plural, in the present simple tense
c) When the subject is singular, in the past simple tense
d) When the subject is plural, in the past simple tense
What role does the subject have in a clause or sentence that’s in the active voice?
a) It is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb
b) It is the person or thing that does or performs the action of the verb
c) It modifies or describes the action of the verb
d) It modifies or describes the person or thing that performs the action of the verb
What role does the subject have in a clause or sentence that’s in the passive voice?
a) It is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb
b) It is the person or thing that does or performs the action of the verb
c) It modifies or describes the action of the verb
d) It modifies or describes the person or thing that performs the action of the verb
Which of the following has a clause with a subject that is a gerund phrase?
a) “John is swimming on Saturday, which I’m excited to see.”
b) “A lot of people I know are coming to the party.”
c) “Reading by candlelight is thought to be bad for your eyes.”
d) “Seeing eye dogs provide an invaluable service.”
Which of the following has a clause with a subject that is a pronoun?
a) “Cell phones are way too advanced these days.”
b) “Wherever she lives is where I’m destined to be.”
c) “Several eyewitnesses have placed the suspect at the scene of the crime.”
d) “Everyone is being caught off guard by this new law.”
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