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When you are writing a sentence the subject refers to the person, place, or thing. It serves as the main topic: the who or what a sentence is about.
The subject combines with a predicate (the action of a sentence) to make a clause. Usually, the subject comes before the verb, but it can sometimes be the other way around.
You can always spot the subject of a sentence by first identifying what action is happening.
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In writing, the subject is always a noun or pronoun: it is the person, place, or thing taking part in a sentence's action.
In each of these sentences, the action (verb) is the same: created; the subject is the entity (the who or what) that created the website.
Sometimes, the subject is a verb ending in -ing: a gerund.
While these subjects look like verbs, they are nouns in these examples.
The best practice for spotting the subject in a sentence is to look for the action. Find the verb and ask: who or what is acting?
This strategy is particularly effective in complex sentences with several modifiers.
Even as a sentence gets more complex with introductory phrases, look for the verb that is part of the independent clause in the sentence.
Start with that verb (in italics below) and work towards the subject (in bold below) by asking, “Who or what is doing this?”.
In each of these examples, even though the sentence gets more complex, the action and subject remain the same: she (subject) begins (verb).
Just as sentences can get more complex, subjects can be more than one word.
A simple subject keeps things simple, it’s just one word. It can include an article (a, an, the) and still be simple.
Examples of a simple subject:
When writing a sentence with a complete subject it includes sentence modifiers. Rather than just a single word, complete subjects include the simple subject and all its descriptors.
Examples of complete subjects:
In sentences with compound subjects, there’s more than one subject. So, there may be two subjects that are both doing the same thing (action).
Examples of compound subjects:
Subjects can be complete and compound:
In commands or imperative sentences, you may not see the subject, but it is understood to be “you.” These are called understood or hidden subjects.
Examples of understood or hidden subjects:
The verbs above don’t point back to any subject you can see. But in each case, the implied subject is “you.”
Subject-verb agreements essentially highlight that the quantity (number) of verbs in a sentence should be the same as the subject.
So, if you’re writing a sentence with a singular subject you also need a singular verb. For a brief overview check the chart below:
Learn more about verbs and verb tenses in our guide.
To write a complete sentence you need a subject. Without them, a grouping of words isn’t a clause or a sentence. It is simply a phrase. A clause requires a subject and verb that are working together.
If the clause is a complete thought, it is an independent clause; if it isn’t a complete thought and can’t stand alone, it is a dependent clause.
One thing both independent and dependent clauses have in common: they both have a subject and a verb.
Examples of clauses and sentences:
Subjects are essential building blocks in a sentence. Without them, all writing would consist of phrases with no person or thing connected to the action.
Use the Originality.ai Grammar Checker to review your copy to make sure you’ve included subjects correctly when structuring your sentences. Plus, catch common spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes to publish content with confidence.
Then, learn more about grammar in our top guides:
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