English Subject
The
subject
is the person or thing about which something is being stated.
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"
Joe is a good boy."
Who is a good boy?
Joe is.
So "
Joe" is
the subject.
Examples (the subject is in bold):
- Ronnie
finished his homework.
- She
was hit by a ball.
- Spain
is in Europe.
- Pigs
and cows can't fly.
- Traveling
is fun.
- War
is a terrible thing.
- There is a
mouse in the room.
- Stand up! (The subject is understood to be you.)
How can you identify the subject?
To identify the
subject
of the sentence, first find the
verb.
Then ask, "Who or what (verb)?"
The answer is your subject.
Examples for the above sentences:
- Who finished his homework? Ronnie.
Subject = Ronnie
- Who was hit by a ball? She.
Subject
= she
- What is in Europe? Spain.
Subject
= Spain
- Who can't fly? Pigs and cows.
Subject
= pigs and cows
- What is fun? Traveling.
Subject
= traveling
- What is a terrible thing? War.
Subject
= war
- Who is in the room? A mouse.
Subject
= a mouse
- Who should stand up? You.
Subject
= you
Simple subject
The subject can be a single word:
Or, it can be a
KEY
word and some additional words around it:
- The
nice old lady
from across the street is home.
That KEY word is called a
simple
subject.
In the above example the subject is built around the noun
lady.
The other words around it (the, nice, old, from, across, the, street)
simply
describe the noun "lady."
Examples (the subject is in bold, the simple subject
is in bold and red):
- The
cat is asleep.
- Many
good people are leaving.
- The
best student
in the class only got a B+.
Compound subject
A compound subject is a subject that is made up of two or more simple
subjects, connected by conjunctions such as
and,
but,
or.
Note that the simple subjects can have additional words describing them.
The important thing is that when you can find more than one simple
subject in
the subject of a sentence – you have a compound subject.
Example 1 (the subjects
are in bold, the simple subjects are in bold and underlined, and the
compound subject is in bold and purple):
- Bob
knows what to do.
- Daniel
knows what to do.
When we
combine these two sentences we get:
- Bob and Daniel
know what to do.
"Bob and Daniel" is a compound subject.
How do we know it's a compound subject?
Well, it's because we have two
simple subjects:
Bob, Daniel.
Example 2 (the subjects are in bold, the
simple subjects are in bold and underlined, and the compound subject is
in bold and purple):
- The
fat cat
is on the couch.
- The
small dog
is on the couch.
When we
combine these two sentences we get:
- The fat cat and the
small dog
are on the couch.
"The fat cat and the small dog" is a compound subject.
How do we know it's a compound subject?
Well, it's because we have two
simple subjects:
cat, dog.
Some more examples (the subjects
are in bold, the simple subjects are in bold and underlined, and the
compound subject is in bold and purple):
- Mom and Dad
visited us yesterday.
- Jack and Bonnie
are getting married next month.
- My brother
Kevin and my sister
Jane are out of the country.
- A tall
guy,
a nice-looking girl
and a black cat
were sitting on the couch.
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