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Subjects and Verbs
Your life as a writer will be much simpler if you can identify the subject(s) and verb(s) of a sentence. The subject is what does the action which the verb indicates. The verb is the action. Verbs in English are a little tricky because a "verb" in English can be more than one word; in fact it can be three or four or five! In English we have auxiliary verbs, those little "helping" words that count as part of the verb. For example: she walked; she was walking; she did walk; she could have walked; she might have been walking Usually the subject and verb come at the beginning of a sentence. For example: The whale spouted far out on the horizon. Subject: whale; verb: spouted My aunt looked really tan after going to Mexico. Subject: aunt; verb: looked In questions, subject and verb are inverted (reversed). For example: Why do you go see him so often? Subject: you; verb: do go How can you eat so much chocolate? Subject: you; verb: can eat Commands (orders), whether polite or rude, have an implied subject, which is always "you." For example: Please close the door. (You please close the door.) Subject: you; verb: close Shut up. (You shut up.) Subject: you; verb: shut There can be more than one subject in a sentence. For example: The men and women were always arguing with one another. Subjects: men, women; verb: were arguing Cattle, pigs, and sheep are often sent to the stockyards. Subjects: cattle, pigs, sheep; verb: are sent There can also be more than one verb. For example: My boss had a really bad day yesterday and took it out on everyone in the office. Subject: boss; verbs: had, took She took her wedding ring off, threw it across the room, and then stomped on it. Subject: she; verbs: took, threw, stomped Important: Verbs in English are often more than one word. They can be separated by other words even. Note: "not" is never part of the verb. Neither is "always," "often," "always," etc. (They're adverbs.) And be careful about contractions! He wasn't at work today. Subject: he; verb: was The bird didn't see the cat coming. Subject: bird; verb: did see The tenor will not sing at the concert next year. Subject: tenor; verb: will sing She may have been the greatest artist who ever lived. Subject: she; verb: may have been The cookies should have been cooled longer than they were. Subject: cookies; verb: should have been cooled Tip: Cross out all prepositional phrases, and your job will be easier. The following constructions can be tricky. For example: The handle (It's not the pitcher but its handle that's broken.) Many ("Students" is not the subject of this sentence!) Each one Finally, a verb ending in "ing" that doesn't have an auxiliary is called a "gerund" and is a noun. For example: Calling me names won't help your case. Subject: calling; verb: will help Not paying attention in a busy class like chemistry is a bad idea. Subject: paying; verb: is (Note that subject and verb can be very far apart in a sentence!) Setting fires and torturing animals are the first signs that an adolescent is a budding sociopath. Subjects: setting, torturing; verb: are These quizzes are self-paced and give you immediate feedback. They are entirely private; no one will know you have taken one. |
