Do you know what the subject of a sentence is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the subject of a sentence, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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According to Your Dictionary, the subject of a sentence is the noun in the sentence that is doing or being something. The subject of the sentence is what the sentence is about. There are different types of subjects: simple subjects, compound subjects, and noun phrases/a noun clause. Simple subjects are usually single words which describe a single thing or person, or single group of things or people. Compound subjects are subjects that contain more than one noun or pronoun. Noun phrases are a group of words that function together like a noun, and usually provide more detail.
The other part of a sentence is the predicate, which contains the action. A single subject might be connected to the rest of the sentence by a coordinating conjunction. These could be independent clauses or dependent clauses. This could be a linking verb, a helping verb, action verbs, or another form of the verb. An example of a simple subject could be “kids.” Sometimes you might see a noun acting as an adjective. Sometimes sentences have passive constructions in which there is subject-verb inversion and the subject of a command/the understood subject of a sentence comes after the verb, pronoun subjects, relative pronouns, and more. A passive sentence can be confusing to discern the true subjects or complete subjects in. Subjects are a part of any type of sentence, from an imperative sentence to an active sentence. This is one of the basic parts of a sentence. It is important to have a clear subject in each sentence you write as well as subject-verb agreement. If you have a singular subject you need a singular verb, and if you have a plural subject you need a plural verb.
Many different languages also contain words that mean subject. You may notice that some of these translations of subject look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of subject is provided by Word Sense.
Indonesian: subyek
Arabic: فَاعِل (masc.), مُبْتَدَأ (masc.)
Tagalog: simuno
Hungarian: alany
Korean: 주어
Mongolian: өгүүлэгдэхүүн
Kalmyk: нерлгч
Romanian: subiect (neut.)
Danish: grundled (neut.), subjekt (neut.)
Italian: soggetto (masc.)
Greek: υποκείμενο (neut.)
Irish: ainmní (masc.)
French: sujet (masc.)
Esperanto: subjekto
Vietnamese: chủ ngữ
Polish: podmiot (m-in)
Norman: sujet (masc.)
Ukrainian: пі́дмет (masc.)
Slovene: osebek (masc.)
Slovak: podmet (masc.)
Asturian: suxetu (masc.)
Dutch: onderwerp (neut.)
Turkish: özne
Roman: sùbjekt (masc.), pódmet (masc.)
Buryat: нэрлүүлэгшэ
Belarusian: дзе́йнік (masc.)
Catalan: subjecte (masc.)
Thai: ประธาน
Volapük: subyet
Southern Altai: баштаачы (baştaaçı)
Telugu: కర్త
Finnish: subjekti
Scottish Gaelic: cùisear (masc.)
Swedish: subjekt (neut.)
Russian: подлежа́щее (neut.), субъе́кт (masc.)
Khmer: ប្រធាន
Hebrew: נוֹשֵׂא (nosé)
Mandarin: 主語, 主语 (zhǔyǔ)
Japanese: 主語 (しゅご, shugo)
Macedonian: по́дмет (masc.)
Armenian: ենթակա
Maori: tāhuhu, tāhū
Estonian: alus
Portuguese: sujeito (masc.)
Icelandic: frumlag (neut.)
Spanish: sujeto (masc.)
Bulgarian: подло́г (masc.)
Czech: podmět (masc.)
German: Satzgegenstand (masc.), Subjekt (neut.)
Cyrillic: су̀бјект (masc.), по́дмет (masc.)
Galician: suxeito (masc.)
What are examples of subjects?
Main subjects are present in every sentence in the English language. Trying to use a word or grammatical technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of sentences that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at the following examples and see how many you can identify the forms of the subject in!
The Johnsons studied linguistics.
Jill followed instructions on the exam.
The dog bit George.
Jeff hates chemistry.
Mom put things in a normal order.
My boss yelled at Ann.
Claudette with the long hair waved to the postman.
The new boy was good at math.
Pierre went to Paris.
We went to the grocery store after school.
The trademarks were stolen, and we had to go to court because of it.
What are other grammar terms?
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
Overall, the subject of a sentence is the noun in the sentence that is performing or being the action. Every sentence has a subject and it is important that you know the correct subject of the sentences you read. If a sentence does not have a subject, it is a fragment.
Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.
Kevin
November 20, 2021
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