Identifying the Subject
You have already learned that clauses are made up of smaller units called subjects, verbs, objects, and complements, and these "building blocks" always appear in a prescribed order. (That is, there are rules regarding the order). For example, a typical clause looks like this:
| Clause | ||
| subject | verb | object |
Being able to identify these elements is important, because it's the only way to know for sure that you have found a "clause".
Imagine, for example, that you're searching for "an animal." How can you be sure that you have found an animal? Well, perhaps you have a checklist:
- Does it have a head?
- Does it have a body?
- Does it have a tail?
If it has all three of these things, you can be fairly sure that you have indeed found "an animal." In fact, if it has a head and a body, that's good enough. Some animals also have tails, but not all of them.
It's the same thing with clauses. If you've found a subject and a verb, then you know you've found a clause. And some clauses also have an object or a complement, just like some animals have a tail.
So let's start by learning how to identify the subject:
| Step 1: | Look at the sentence, and mentally (or physically, on a piece of paper) cross out all the non-essential words and phrases. |
| Step 2: | Examine what's left. Now put your finger on the first "thing" (noun). That is the subject of the sentence. |
In other words, the subject always comes first (assuming that you have already canceled out everything that can be canceled).
Study the following examples:
| Subject | Predicate |
| Carol | found a diamond ring. |
| Bob's car | sped around the corner. |
| My cat | loves fish. |
Is it true that the subject always come first?
Yes, 99% of the time.
What happens if you don't put the subject first?
Three things might happen. (In the following examples, the subject of each sentence has been highlighted)
- “The dark side are they.”
- “When gone am I.”
- “Luminous beings are we.”
- “The shadow of greed, that is.”
- glistened the dew
- sparkled the stars
- Troubles, everybody’s got.
1) You might sound like Yoda, from Star Wars:
2) You may sound poetic:
3) You may sound clever and hip:
The important thing to remember is that these are exceptions, not the rule.
Instructions for the Quiz
Identify the subject of the sentence.
Hint: This quiz should be ridiculously easy, because all the sentences have already been reduced to their simplest form. Therefore, all you have to remember is this:
- The subject always comes first.