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9. WHAT IS A SUBJECT?
In a sentence the person or thing that performs the action is called the subject. When you wish to find the subject of a sentence, always look for the verb first; then ask, who? or what? before the verb. The answer will be the subject.1 Teresa speaks Spanish. QuEsTION: Who speaks Spanish? ANSWER: Teresa. Teresa is the subject. [Note that the subject is singular. It refers to one person.]
Are the keys on the table? QUESTION: What is on the table? ANSWER: the keys.
Keys is the subject. [Note that the subject is plural. It refers to more than one thing.]
Train yourself to ask that question to find the subject Never assume a word is the subject because it comes first in the sentence. Subjects can be located in several different places, as you can see in the following examples (the subject is in boldface and verb is italicized): Did the game start on time? After playing for two hours, Paul became exhausted. Looking in the mirror was a little girl.
Some sentences have more than one main verb; you have to find the subject of each verb.
The boys were doing the cooking while Mwy was setting the table. Boys is the subject of were doing. [Note that the subject and verb are plural.] Mary is the subject of was setting. [Note that the subject and verb are singular.]
In both English and Spanish it is important to find the subject of each verb to make sure that the subject and the verb agree; that is, you must choose the form of the verb that goes with the subject. (See What is a Verb Conjugation?, p. 39.)
tThe subject performs the action in an active sentence, but is acted upon in a passive sentence (see What is Meant by Active and Passive voice?, p. 97). |
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