RECOGNIZE SUBJECTS & VERBS
Study Sheet
A sentence is a spoken or written report of an event, situation, or condition. The subject and the verb are the main elements of a sentence; they form the sentence base or the main thought.
The verb is the most important part, or the core, of the sentence; it expresses the action or condition reported by the sentence.
The subject is the word that names the person, place, or thing doing the action or in the condition specified by the verb.
Every sentence has at least one subject and verb; the subject and the verb express the main idea of the sentence.
A prepositional phrase always starts with a preposition (one of the words in the chart below) and goes through a noun or pronoun. You have to be very careful about where you start and where you stop the prepositional phrase. Look at the following sentence:
Jane and Erika, along with all their friends, went to the lake for a picnic.
What is the subject? Jane and Erika
"Along with" is the preposition, and "friends" is the noun, so the prepositional phrase starts with "along with" and goes though "friends." "Friends" cannot be the subject because it is part of the prepositional phrase.
What is the verb? went
Are there more prepositional phrases in our sample sentence? Yes, there are two more:
"to the lake" — "To" is the preposition, and "lake" is the noun.
"for a picnic" — "For" is the preposition, and "picnic" is the noun.
Learn the following prepositions.
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about |
before |
for |
out |
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above |
behind |
from |
outside |
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according to |
below |
in |
over |
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across |
beneath |
in front of |
since |
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after |
beside |
instead of |
through |
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against |
besides |
into |
to |
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ahead of |
between |
like |
together with |
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along |
beyond |
near |
toward |
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alongside |
but (except) |
next to |
under |
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along with |
by |
of |
until |
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among |
concerning |
off |
up |
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around |
despite |
off of |
upon |
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as well as |
down |
on |
with |
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at |
during |
on account of |
within |
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because of |
except |
onto |
without |
What is the point? NO WORD IN A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE WILL BE THE SUBJECT OR THE VERB. Even though the prepositional phrase contains a lot of really great information, it will NEVER contain the subject or verb of the sentence.
So, if you are looking for the subject and verb in a sentence, first identify all prepositional phrases.
To find the verb, look for the core word of the sentence, the word which tells "what's happening." (Hint: To decide if a word is a verb, ask whether someone or something can do it or is it.)
a. English has three kinds of verbs. A sentence will have either an action verb or a linking verb. Both linking and action verbs may be accompanied by helping verbs.
1) Action verbs report physical or mental actions. Here are a few examples:
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go |
jog |
sing |
have |
drive |
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sleep |
do |
dance |
think |
study |
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swim |
wonder |
order |
eat |
decide |
2) Linking verbs link the subject to words that rename or describe it.
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be |
are |
been |
appear |
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am |
was |
being |
feel |
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is |
were |
seem |
become |
3) Auxiliary (or helping) verbs often accompany action and linking verbs to specifiy exact time or meaning. These are easy to learn if you break them down into these four groups:
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permission & ability |
do |
have |
be |
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can, could |
do |
has |
am, is, are |
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may, might, must |
does |
have |
was, were |
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shall, should |
did |
had |
be, been, being |
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will, would |
done |
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b. Linking verb or helping verb—how can you tell?
Some verbs can either stand alone as the main verb in the sentence or act as a helping verb. If a verb is acting as a helping verb, its meaning will not be the main meaning of the sentence.
Examples:
I have three sisters.
(Have is the only verb and the main verb.)
Mary Anne will have her birthday party next Monday.
(Have is the main verb. Will is a helping verb that puts the action in the future tense.)
We have seen him at this restaurant before.
(Seen is the main verb. Have is a helping verb that puts the action in the past time.)
c. Is the helping verb part of the verb?
Any verb may be combined with one or more helping verbs to make the specific tense or special meaning needed for a particular sentence. Once added, helping verbs become part of the verb. In the following sentence, may have been visiting is the complete verb.
Example: The children may have been visiting Grandma. (The verb includes all of the words needed to "name" the action.)
After you have identified the verb, find the subject. The subject may be one word or several words, but it will be a noun or a pronoun. Other nouns besides the subject may be in the sentence, but the subject will be the noun that does the action or is in the condition stated by the verb.
Example: The rushing river in the valley carried the little boat swiftly along.
First, find the verb. Carried is the word that tells what is happening—the verb. To find the subject, ask "who" or "what" did the action or is in the condition expressed by the verb. For this sentence, ask "who" or "what" carried the little boat swiftly along? The river carried. River is the subject because the river is doing the carrying.
Apply the "sense test" to be sure you have the correct answers. Say the subject and the verb to yourself: "river carried." Do these words make sense together? Can a river carry something? Is the main idea of this sentence that a river is carrying something? If all your answers are "yes," you probably have found the correct subject and verb.
Remember: When you are looking for the subject and verb of a sentence, follow these steps:
1. Cross out all prepositional phrases. If you are having trouble recognizing prepositions, study the list on page 1.
2. Find the verb first by asking "What is the action?" "What happened?"
3. Now find the subject by asking "Who or what did the action of the verb?" (Caution: Ask "Who did?" or "Who is?" Do not ask "Is what?" or "Did what?")
4. Be prepared to do some detective work. The subject is usually before the verb, but this order varies, so subjects and verbs are often found in unexpected places.
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Practice 1 |
Practice 2 |