Prof. Ahmed Shafik Elkhatib
06/12/2006, 10:49 PM
The Subject and the Verb in English Sentences
A. Noun-Verb Agreement
In this chapter we deal with the relationship between the subject and the verb. In a simple sentence like:
1. The professor gives a lecture every day.
if we change the singular noun professor to the plural form professors, we must also change the verb to hold instead of holds. This relationship between the noun and the verb is described by saying that the noun “agrees with” or “is tied to” the verb. And since the noun that is tied to” the verb is the subject of the verb, then the tie or agreement is between the subject and the verb.
B.Tests for Identifying Subjects
This “tie” or “agreement” test is a very useful way to identify the subject in various types of sentences, regardless of the place of the subject in the sentence.
Another usual way of locating the subject is to ask who? or ask what? of the verb, that is who gives? The answer is the professor gives. Hence professor is the subject.
C.The Head is Tied to the Verb
When the subject of a sentence is a noun phrase, it is the headword of the phrase that is tied to the verb, and is therefore the subject.
Examples are:
2. The purposes of the program make me anxious to begin.
3. The difference between the two players appears when they play against each other.
In 2. the noun phrase is the purposes of the program, with the plural word purposes as the headword; whereas in 3 the noun phrase is the difference between the two players, with the singular word difference as the head. We notice that it is the headword, not the whole phrase, that is tied to the verb, and hence purposes and make in 2, and difference and appears in 3. Hence purposes and difference are the subjects of the verb, whereas the entire phrases in which these two heads occur are the complete or modified subjects of the sentences as a whole.
D. The Subject in Sentences with an Auxiliary / Auxiliaries Preceding the Verb
When a verb is preceded by an auxiliary or auxiliaries, the subject is tied to the auxiliary or the first auxiliary. For example, in the sentences:
4. The guest has left.
5. The guests have left.
6. The guest has been seen off.
7. The guests have been seen off.
the singular subject guest in 4 agrees with the auxiliary has, and in 6 with the first auxiliary has; whereas in 5 the plural subject guests agrees with the auxiliary have, and in 7 with the first auxiliary have.
Thus the subject and verb, and subject and auxiliary or first auxiliary are tied together or agree with each other. This means that there are reciprocal changes in form between them in the sense that a change in one of them leads to a corresponding change in the other.
E.Only the Auxiliaries be, have, and do Show Subject-Verb Agreement.
Only the auxiliaries be, have, and do have an inflectional –s ending for the third-person singular, namely is and are, was and were in the case of the auxiliary be; has and have in the case of the auxiliary have ; and does and do in the case of the auxiliary do.
Examples are:
8. The student is / was studying his lessons.
9. The students are / were studying their lessons.
10. The student has studied his lessons.
11. The students have studied their lessons.
12. Does the student study his lessons?
13. Do the students study their lessons?
E. All Other Auxiliaries Show No Subject-Verb Agreement
It is to be noted that all other auxiliaries have the same form in the singular and the plural. These auxiliaries are can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, and ought. For example,
14. (singular) The man will leave soon.
15. (plural) The men will leave soon.
Similarly, the forms of the past tense have no singular-plural change of form, and hence do not show a subject-verb agreement. For example,
16. (singular) I left / departed.
17. (plural) We left / departed.
However, to find the subject where no agreement exists in the form of the verb or auxiliary, we change the verb or (first) auxiliary to another form that shows agreement. This form is a present he, she, it, or they form of the verb or auxiliary. For example,
18. The musician played well.
19. The musician plays well.
20. The musicians play well.
In 19 musician and plays are the tied forms, whereas in 20 musicians and play are the forms that are in agreement. Hence musician is the subject of the verb played, and the musician is the complete or modified subject of the entire sentence.
F. Finding the Subject in Sentences with Auxiliary +Verb
In this section we are going to see how to find the subject in sentences that contain an auxiliary preceding the verb.
If the auxiliary is preceded by not, replace the auxiliary by do and does. For example,
21.The players can not play well.
22.The players do not play well.
23.The player does not play well.
Sentences 22 and 23, in which we replaced can by do and does, respectively, show us that player is the subject of the verb play.
Another way of finding the subject is to substitute the verb itself for the auxiliary. For example,
24. One of my sisters can play the piano.
25. One of my sisters plays the piano.
26. All my sisters play the piano.
From a comparison of the three sentences we come to the conclusion that one is the subject of the original sentence, i.e. sentence number 24.
In questions beginning with who, what, and which, we try a transformation into a noun-object clause. For example,
27. Who is your friend?
28. What was that explosion?
29. Which is your book?
27.a. We know who your friend is.
28.a. we know what that explosion was.
29.a. I know which your book is.
Since we know that the normal subject position immediately precedes the verb, we come to the conclusion that friend, explosion, and book are the subjects of the verb in the noun-object clauses, i.e. in 27.a, 28.a, and 29.a, and hence are the subjects of the verb in the original sentences 27, 28, and 29.
A. Noun-Verb Agreement
In this chapter we deal with the relationship between the subject and the verb. In a simple sentence like:
1. The professor gives a lecture every day.
if we change the singular noun professor to the plural form professors, we must also change the verb to hold instead of holds. This relationship between the noun and the verb is described by saying that the noun “agrees with” or “is tied to” the verb. And since the noun that is tied to” the verb is the subject of the verb, then the tie or agreement is between the subject and the verb.
B.Tests for Identifying Subjects
This “tie” or “agreement” test is a very useful way to identify the subject in various types of sentences, regardless of the place of the subject in the sentence.
Another usual way of locating the subject is to ask who? or ask what? of the verb, that is who gives? The answer is the professor gives. Hence professor is the subject.
C.The Head is Tied to the Verb
When the subject of a sentence is a noun phrase, it is the headword of the phrase that is tied to the verb, and is therefore the subject.
Examples are:
2. The purposes of the program make me anxious to begin.
3. The difference between the two players appears when they play against each other.
In 2. the noun phrase is the purposes of the program, with the plural word purposes as the headword; whereas in 3 the noun phrase is the difference between the two players, with the singular word difference as the head. We notice that it is the headword, not the whole phrase, that is tied to the verb, and hence purposes and make in 2, and difference and appears in 3. Hence purposes and difference are the subjects of the verb, whereas the entire phrases in which these two heads occur are the complete or modified subjects of the sentences as a whole.
D. The Subject in Sentences with an Auxiliary / Auxiliaries Preceding the Verb
When a verb is preceded by an auxiliary or auxiliaries, the subject is tied to the auxiliary or the first auxiliary. For example, in the sentences:
4. The guest has left.
5. The guests have left.
6. The guest has been seen off.
7. The guests have been seen off.
the singular subject guest in 4 agrees with the auxiliary has, and in 6 with the first auxiliary has; whereas in 5 the plural subject guests agrees with the auxiliary have, and in 7 with the first auxiliary have.
Thus the subject and verb, and subject and auxiliary or first auxiliary are tied together or agree with each other. This means that there are reciprocal changes in form between them in the sense that a change in one of them leads to a corresponding change in the other.
E.Only the Auxiliaries be, have, and do Show Subject-Verb Agreement.
Only the auxiliaries be, have, and do have an inflectional –s ending for the third-person singular, namely is and are, was and were in the case of the auxiliary be; has and have in the case of the auxiliary have ; and does and do in the case of the auxiliary do.
Examples are:
8. The student is / was studying his lessons.
9. The students are / were studying their lessons.
10. The student has studied his lessons.
11. The students have studied their lessons.
12. Does the student study his lessons?
13. Do the students study their lessons?
E. All Other Auxiliaries Show No Subject-Verb Agreement
It is to be noted that all other auxiliaries have the same form in the singular and the plural. These auxiliaries are can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, and ought. For example,
14. (singular) The man will leave soon.
15. (plural) The men will leave soon.
Similarly, the forms of the past tense have no singular-plural change of form, and hence do not show a subject-verb agreement. For example,
16. (singular) I left / departed.
17. (plural) We left / departed.
However, to find the subject where no agreement exists in the form of the verb or auxiliary, we change the verb or (first) auxiliary to another form that shows agreement. This form is a present he, she, it, or they form of the verb or auxiliary. For example,
18. The musician played well.
19. The musician plays well.
20. The musicians play well.
In 19 musician and plays are the tied forms, whereas in 20 musicians and play are the forms that are in agreement. Hence musician is the subject of the verb played, and the musician is the complete or modified subject of the entire sentence.
F. Finding the Subject in Sentences with Auxiliary +Verb
In this section we are going to see how to find the subject in sentences that contain an auxiliary preceding the verb.
If the auxiliary is preceded by not, replace the auxiliary by do and does. For example,
21.The players can not play well.
22.The players do not play well.
23.The player does not play well.
Sentences 22 and 23, in which we replaced can by do and does, respectively, show us that player is the subject of the verb play.
Another way of finding the subject is to substitute the verb itself for the auxiliary. For example,
24. One of my sisters can play the piano.
25. One of my sisters plays the piano.
26. All my sisters play the piano.
From a comparison of the three sentences we come to the conclusion that one is the subject of the original sentence, i.e. sentence number 24.
In questions beginning with who, what, and which, we try a transformation into a noun-object clause. For example,
27. Who is your friend?
28. What was that explosion?
29. Which is your book?
27.a. We know who your friend is.
28.a. we know what that explosion was.
29.a. I know which your book is.
Since we know that the normal subject position immediately precedes the verb, we come to the conclusion that friend, explosion, and book are the subjects of the verb in the noun-object clauses, i.e. in 27.a, 28.a, and 29.a, and hence are the subjects of the verb in the original sentences 27, 28, and 29.