| Definition and use of the subject: |
| The subject is the person, place, thing, animal or idea that is doing or being something in a sentence. |
| Example: |
| * Person doing something = /The baby is throwing bottles. /The child is wearing a pant./ (other examples from students) |
| * Place doing something = /The city of Moscow is hosting the world cup 2018./ This area harbors a lot of snakes/(other examples from students) |
| * Thing or idea doing something = /Teqno’s robot drives an automobile./ Religion influences human life positively (other examples from students) |
| – Animal doing something = /The elephant is milking its calf/ The horse is protecting its colt./ (other examples from students) |
| * Person being something = This goes with verbs of state: /The girl is lazy./ He looks tired/ They seem dubious/ The Director appears exhausted/ My parents feel proud when I pass my exams/ Your food smells nice./ He has a cold./ |
| * Place being something = /Washington is covered in snow/ The town appears foggy/ |
| * Thing or idea being something = /The speakers are too loud/ Your idea has merit/ It sounds classy./ |
| NB: If the subject in a sentence is singular, the verb that follows must be conjugated in singular but if it is in plural, the verb must be in the plural |
| Position in a structure: |
| * The subject stands in front of the finite or conjugated verb. |
| Example: The girl is lazy./ The elephant is milking its calf/ |
| * It can come after the finite or conjugated verb in questions, |
| Example: Have you eaten/ Do you speak English?/ |
| Rule: When the subject stands in front or behind a verb or action, it determines the number and tense of the verb. |
| Example: The boy is tired./ The child is throwing bottles. Singular subject = singular verb |
| The boys are tired. /Children are throwing bottles. /Plural subject = plural verb |
Rule: The subject can be a pronoun, a noun, a clause, a phrase, a gerund (verbal noun)
| a. It is windy.(pronoun) | |
| b. The girl is standing near the tree.(noun phrase) | |
| |
| d. Eating revives the body.(gerund) | |
| e. When wind brings down fruits, she picks them.(noun … pronoun) | |
| f. The wind blows down fruits. (noun phrase) | |
| g. The girl fears the fruits could knock her head.(noun phrase) | |
| h. The butterfly is flying beside the tree. (noun phrase) | |
| i. What she takes for breakfast are ripe apples. (clause) | |
| j. The tree produces a lot of fruits.(noun phrase) | |
| k. Trees with strong stems resist the wind.(phrase) | |
| l. Stubbornness caused this person to go out in windy conditions (noun phrase) |
| TYPES OF SUBJECTS |
| Compound subjects |
| My mother and father breathe the pure air of the forest in their days. |
| /My mother and father live in Bamenda/ John and Mary eat too much in the morning./ |
| Singular nouns using ‘or’ or ‘nor’. |
| /A man or a woman takes the children to school/ The battery or the phone is bad/ The rain or the sun damages it/ |
| Singular and plural nouns using ‘or’ or ‘nor’ |
| /The boy or his sisters want to leave./ The shepherd or the cows have lost track/ The chair or the tables are broken. |
| Singular subjects that sound plural |
| /Mary and John hate work. Either pushes responsibility to the other./ My friend and mum always quarrel. Neither wants to work together/Everyone goes to church on Sunday/ Everybody has his pride./ Everyone likes to be respected/Any one is free to visit the office. Nobody likes him/ No one accepts he has lived in town. |
| Singular subjects that end in ‘s’ |
| Mathematics is an easy subject/ News circulates that he is a millionaire. |
| Collective nouns |
| The choir sings well/ The group holds its meetings on Wednesdays/ The school has a hundred students. |
| Subjects accompanied by expressions |
| /My sister, accompanied by her friend, comes to school very early./ This boy, including the students of form five, comes late everyday./The man with his friends agrees to do the job./ Laura, as well as her sister, plays handball very well./ |