A lot of English students, be it as a first or an additional language, have trouble when they have to find the subject in a sentence. But is this really hard? No! It doesn’t have to be. And here you’ll find out how to determine what the subject in a sentence is very easily. Read on.
Subject in a sentence
First of all, let’s understand what a subject is.
A sentence may have a lot of different parts. The most basic ones are the subject and the predicate.
The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that performs the action described by the verb.
The verb is the action word or the word that expresses a state.
The subject can be a noun (the man), a pronoun (he), or a clause (the man who’s wearing a green t-shirt).
The predicate can be thought of as the rest of the sentence (the verb and its possible complements).
How to identify the subject in a sentence
The easiest and most practical way of identifying the subject in a sentence is asking who/what did the action or who/what’s in this state?
If you think you haven’t really understood it, analyze the examples below and you’ll surely know how to do it.
Examples of subject
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE |
| I | ate the cake |
| My mother | drives to work every day |
| My parents | are a happy couple |
| The man who’s buying that fancy car | is very famous |
| My friend and I | like to play soccer |
| They | have a dog |
| My cat | sleeps all-day |
| That square | is really nice |
| My video game console | is old |
How to find a subject in a sentence?
Ask yourself who or what does the action described by the verb.
In the examples described above, ask:
| WHO or WHAT…? | ANSWER |
| Who ate the cake? | I (ate the cake) |
| Who drives to work every day? | My mother (drives to work every day) |
| Who is a happy couple? | My parents (are a happy couple) |
| Who’s very famous? | The man who’s buying that fancy car (is very famous) |
| Who likes to play soccer? | My friend and I (like to play soccer) |
| Who has a dog? | They (have a dog) |
| Who sleeps all day? | My cat (sleeps all day) |
| What is really nice? | That square (is really nice) |
| What is old? | My video game console (is old) |
Everything that is in bold is the subject you’re looking for. Easy, isn’t it?
If you want to master every aspect of English grammar, take a look at our awesome article on the best books to learn English grammar.
