FINDING SUBJECTS

Based on My Dog Bites The English Teacher, Practical Grammar Made Quick and Easy, by Marian Anders.

QUICK “FINDING VERBS” REVIEW Before each sentence, remember to say:

Yesterday Every day TomorrowListen for words that change. Any word that

changes must be a verb!

Video games are a multi-billion dollar industry.

Many people think that Pong was the first video game.

Pong comes from the game of table tennis; in Pong players slide the paddles back and forth to hit the ball.

Although Pong was not thefirst video game, its successtook the video game industryinto mainstream.

FINDING SUBJECTS When you analyze a sentence, always find the verb first. Then

you can find the subject by asking yourself, “Who or what performed the verb?”

Example: Janisa baked a peach pie. Tomorrow Janisa WILL BAKE a peach pie. Every day Janisa BAKES a peach pie.

The verb is baked.

Now, to find the subject, ask yourself, “Who or what baked a peach pie?” The answer, of course, is Janisa.

Were you tempted to choose pie as the subject? Ask yourself, “Did the pie bake anything?” No, Janisa baked it, so the subject is Janisa.

In most sentences, the subject comes before the verb. The subject can come after the verb, but that doesn’t happen too often.

Finding Subjects

SENTENCES WITH MORE THAN ONE SUBJECT

Find the verb first! Kate and Jake swim at the YMCA.The verb is swim.

•To find the subject, ask yourself, “Who or what swims at the YMCA?”

Katie and Jake both swim.They are the two subjects sharing one verb.

SENTENCES WITH MORE THAN ONE SUBJECT

A sentence can have several verbs and several subjects.

Remember, find the verbs first: Gloria washed the dishes, and Bob dried them.

•Then, Ask the subject question for each verb:o “Who or what washed the dishes?

o Gloria washed the dishes. o “Who or what dried them?”

o Bob dried them.o The subjects of the sentence are Gloria and Bob.

Here’s a harder one:After he mowed the lawn, Andre took a shower, and

then he watched TV. First, find the verbs. Then ask the subject question for each verb, and

remember that the subject will usually come before its verb. “Who or what mowed the lawn?”

He mowed the lawn. “Who or what took a shower?”

Andre took a shower. “Who or what watched tv?

He watched TV.

HINT: The subject of a sentence will either be a nounor pronoun.

SUBJECTS ARE ONE WORD (OR NAME) Try this example: Find the verb first:

My brother is a scuba instructor. The verb is is.

•Find the subject by asking, “Who or what is a scuba instructor?”

My brother. If you were to choose one word for the subject of this

sentence which one would you choose? Brother is a better choice than my.

SUBJECTS ARE ONE WORD (OR NAME)Here’s another example: Jessica’s room is messy. First fine the verb. Then ask, “Who or what is messy?”

Jessica’s room. Which one word would you choose for the subject?

Is Jessica messy? Maybe she is, but that’s not what the sentence is about.

Is the room messy? Yes.

The subject of the sentence is room.

NAMES AS SUBJECTS

Note: If the subject is a name, the entire name is considered to be the subject, not just part of the name.

Example: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous

speech in 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is the subject.

FINDING SUBJECTS Here’s a tricky one:

My favorite ride at Disney World is the Haunted Mansion.

What is the verb? “Who or what is the Haunted Mansion?”

Disney World is the Haunted Mansion? No.

How about my favorite ride is the Haunted Mansion? Yes, but that’s three words.

Which one word would you choose? Ride is the best choice, and ride is the subject of the

sentence.

FINDING STRANGE SUBJECTS Don’t be confused if the subject is a word

that looks like a verb. In grammar, we don’t care what a word looks like. We only care about the job it is doing in the sentence. The job of a subject is to tell who or what performed the verb.

Example: Dancing is fun.

What is the verb? “Who or what is fun?”

Dancing is fun, and dancing is the subject.

FINDING STRANGE SUBJECTS Here’s a tricky one:

Cleaning the bathroom is disgusting. Find the verb. “Who or what is disgusting?”

Cleaning the bathroom is disgusting. Which one word would you choose?

Is the bathroom disgusting? It might be, but the sentence is about cleaning the

bathroom, so the subject is cleaning.

PRACTICE FINDING SUBJECTS!