Subject
From Wikigogy
- Subject
- The part of the sentence that the sentence is about, usually a noun or pronoun, the doer of the action.
- subject
- grammatical
- semantical
- grammar
- middle_school high_school college adult
[edit] Examples
A subject isn't always one noun or pronoun. Most of the time, the subject has a number of words. It can even be a sentence. Look at the sentences, the subject is in bold.
- He works in the garden.
- Lamps use electricity.
- The weather changes from sunny to rainy.
- All my friends are at the party.
- The women in the red dress gets a lot of attention.
- That the woman in the red dress gets a lot of attention isn't surprising.
- To watch a movie is relaxing entertainment.
[edit] Common subject types
- Mostly plural nouns (such as example 2) and mass nouns:
- Milk has a lot of calcium.
- See example 3
- Washing you hands is important after you used the bathroom.
- A verb
- See example 7.
- A sentence with that
- See example 6.
- It or there
- It rains.
- There are many books in a library.
[edit] How to find the subject
- Since the subject is usually the doer of the action, you can find it by asking: "Who or what is doing it?".
- Who works in the garden? He does.
- What uses electricity? Lamps do.
- What changes from sunny to rainy? The weather does.
- Who is at the party? All my friends are.
- Who gets a lot of attention? The woman in the red dress does.
- What isn't surprising? That the woman in the red dress gets a lot of attention.
- What is relaxing entertainment? To watch a movie.
- The subject can also change the form of the verb. In English, you see this with subjects that are he, she, or it. With these subjects, the verb gets an extra -(e)s (when talking about now, not the past). So, if you change the subject, the verb changes along.
- I have three cats.
- He has three cats.
- Sandra likes the outdoors.
- We like_ the outdoors.
- Some verbs never change in form, these are modal verbs such as can, must, will, might, and may.
[edit] Grammatical or semantic subject
Subjects are ususally the doers of the action, but not always. In some sentences, like passive sentences, the doer of the action is not important. The object of the sentence is turned into the subject.
- Sarah throws the ball.
- The ball is thrown (by Sarah).
- Paul moves the pieces.
- The pieces move. (You can't add "by Paul"!)
- The pieces are moved (by Paul).
The original subject is only the semantic subject, not the grammatical. This means that when you look at what the sentence means, the original subject is still the doer of the action.
[edit] Lesson plans
None so far
