{"id":46,"date":"2024-01-15T16:06:48","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T21:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/grammarbasics\/?post_type=chapter&p=46"},"modified":"2026-01-26T13:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:34:00","slug":"subjects-and-verbs","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/grammarbasics\/chapter\/subjects-and-verbs\/","title":{"raw":"Finding Subjects","rendered":"Finding Subjects"},"content":{"raw":"In the previous chapter we learned that a sentence has three required components:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. It must contain at least one subject.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. It must contain at least one verb.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. It must express a complete thought.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nWe've already learned about verbs. But what is that first thing? What's a subject?\r\n

    Subjects -- The \"Do-er\" or the Focus<\/h3>\r\nIf there's an action verb in the sentence, we can think of the subject as the \"do-er\" of that action.[footnote]This is not strictly true; in the passive voice, the subject will be the receiver of the action. But most sentences aren't in passive voice.[\/footnote]\r\n

    Garth sprinted toward the finish line.<\/em><\/p>\r\nPicture that sentence in your mind. Who's sprinting? It's Garth, right? So Garth<\/em> is the subject in this sentence.\r\n\r\nLet's try another one:\r\n

    Garth and his classmates sprinted toward the finish line.<\/em><\/p>\r\nNow ask yourself the same question: Who or what is doing the action in this sentence? Who is sprinting?\r\n\r\nWell, I hope you answered \"Garth\" but also \"his classmates\" because they are all running. So, this verb has two subjects. We often group the two subjects together and call them a\u00a0compound subject<\/strong>. But most importantly, I just want you to know that a verb can have more than one subject.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nLet's try one more sentence:\r\n

    Garth is very fast.<\/em><\/p>\r\nThere's no real action in that sentence, so there isn't really a \"do-er\". But I do see a verb in here -- the linking verb<\/strong> is<\/em>. When a sentence uses a linking verb instead of an action verb, we can find the subject by asking, \"What is the focus of the sentence? What person or thing is the sentence describing?\r\n\r\nLook again at the sentence above.\u00a0 Who or what is being described? In other words, who is \"very fast\"?\r\n\r\nIt's Garth! So Garth <\/em>is the subject of this sentence.\r\n\r\n \r\n

    In sentences written in\u00a0passive voice<\/strong>, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing that the action is happening to, but that's too complicated for right now. We'll talk about that later.<\/div>\r\n \r\n
    \r\n

    Practice: Identify the Subject<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

    \r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"1\"]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

    Simple Subjects<\/h3>\r\nLet's look at yet another sentence and practice locating the subject.\r\n\r\n \r\n

    The red car with a racing stripe turned the corner sharply.<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nIf we want to identify the subject, we can ask ourselves \"Who\/what is doing the action in this sentence? Who\/what is turning?\" And you might answer the question by saying that it's the\u00a0\"red car\" or the \"red car with a racing stripe.\" Which is correct -- sort of.\r\n\r\nWhen you identify the subject in a sentence, I want you to think about it as just the thing\/person. Leave out the extra words that describe the subject. In this instance, then, even though we have more specific details about the subject, we would just say that the subject is\u00a0car.<\/em> Technically that's called the\u00a0simple subject<\/strong>, but you don't really need to know that. Just remember that each subject should be, in almost all cases, a single noun<\/strong>\u00a0or pronoun.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLet's get a little more practice identifying simple subjects. Remember, leave out the descriptive information. Choose only the one noun or pronoun that expresses the subject.\r\n\r\n \r\n

    \r\n

    Exercises<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

    \r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"3\"]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n

    Where\u00a0Not<\/span> To Look For The Subject<\/h3>\r\nSo far we've looked at pretty simple sentences. There weren't too many words to choose from when identifying the subject. Now let's take a look at a more complicated sentence. Read it carefully and try to identify the subject.\r\n\r\n \r\n

    Before the meeting, the employee in the chair beside the boss distributed the agendas.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nNow, we have many methods of identifying the subject at this point, so if you're identifying the subject with ease (scroll down a bit to make sure you're right), that's great! If you're not quite sure, though, you might need to make your decision easier by simplifying things. You see, there are some places where the subject will never<\/span> be found.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThose places are called\u00a0[pb_glossary id=\"90\"]prepositional phrases[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>. That term always intimidated me when I was a student, so let's break it down to make it less scary.\r\n\r\nThe preposition<\/strong> is one of our parts of speech, which you've explored already in an earlier chapter<\/a>. Its job is to show relationships between things in a sentence. In other words, prepositions show where things are in relation to other things. For example, if I say \"the pencil was under<\/span> the desk,\" that word\u00a0under<\/em> tells me where the pencil is in relation to the desk. Some common prepositions include\u00a0in<\/em>,\u00a0on, <\/em>to, with, at, for, by,<\/em> and of<\/em>.\r\n\r\nFor now, think of a phrase<\/strong> as simply a group of words.\r\n\r\nSo, a prepositional phrase<\/strong> is simply a phrase (a group of words) that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun called its object<\/strong>. I like to identify the full prepositional phrase by taking the preposition and following it with \"what\/whom?\"\u00a0 For example, if I see the phrase \"under the desk\" I'll locate the preposition under<\/em> and ask myself, \"under what\/whom?\" My answer -- under the desk<\/em> -- is my prepositional phrase.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nLet's go back to that complicated sentence above to see if we can spot some prepositional phrases.\r\n\r\n \r\n

    Before the meeting, the employee in the chair beside the boss distributed the agendas.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nI see three prepositions in there: Before, in,<\/em>\u00a0beside. <\/em>So, what are my prepositional phrases?\r\n