A subject is one of the two main parts of a sentence (the other being the predicate, which modifies the subject). For the simple sentence John runs, John is the subject, a person or thing about whom the statement is made. Traditionally the subject is the word or phrase which controls the verb in the clause, that is to say with which the verb agrees (John is but John and Mary are). If there is no verb, as in Nicola – what an idiot!, or if the verb has a different subject, as in John – I can't stand him!, then 'John' is not considered to be the grammatical subject, but can be described as the topic of the sentence. While these definitions apply to simple English sentences, defining the subject is more difficult in more complex sentences and languages. For example, in the sentence It is difficult to learn French, the subject seems to be the word it, and yet arguably the real subject (the thing that is difficult) is to learn French. A sentence such as It was John who broke the window is more complex still. Sentences beginning with a locative phrase, such as There is a problem, isn't there?, in which the tag question isn't there? seems to imply that the subject is the adverb there, also create difficulties for the definition of subject. In languages such as Latin and German the subject of a verb has a form which is known as the nominative case: for example, the form 'he' (not 'him' or 'his') is used in sentences such as he ran, He broke the window, He is a teacher, He was hit by a motorist. But there are some languages such as Basque or Greenlandic, in which the form of a noun or pronoun when the verb is intransitive (he ran) is different from when the verb is transitive (he broke the window). In these languages, which are known as ergative languages, the concept of subject may not apply at all.
Technical definition The subject (glossing abbreviations: sub or su) is, according to a tradition that can be traced back to Aristotle (and that is associated with phrase structure grammars), one of the two main constituents of a clause, the other constituent being the predicate, whereby the predicate says something about the subject. According to a tradition associated with predicate logic and dependency grammars, the subject is the most prominent overt argument of the predicate. By this position all languages with arguments have subjects, though there is no way to define this consistently for all languages. Even in languages such as English, there is not always a perfect match between the semantic predicand and the subject, as a predicate may be predicated on an argument in another clause (see raising). From a functional perspective, a subject is a phrase that conflates nominative case with the topic. Many languages (such as those with ergative or Austronesian alignment) do not do this, and by this definition would not have subjects. All of these positions see the subject determining person and number agreement on the finite verb, as exemplified by the difference in verb forms between he eats and they eat. The stereotypical subject immediately precedes the finite verb in declarative sentences and represents an agent or a theme. The subject is often a multi-word constituent and should be distinguished from parts of speech, which, roughly, classify words within constituents. In the example sentences below, the subjects are indicated in boldface.
The dictionary helps me find words. Strangely enough, ice cream appeared on the table. The man who is sitting over there told me that he just bought a ticket to Tahiti. Nothing else is good enough. That nothing else is good enough shouldn't come as a surprise. To eat six different kinds of vegetables a day is healthy. Despite her objections, he sold us ten bags of clothes.
Forms of the subject in English
The subject is a constituent that can be realized in numerous forms. The following table lists the many forms that they may take in English:
Criteria for identifying subjects There are several criteria for identifying subjects:
Subject-verb agreement: In languages with subject-verb agreement, the subject may agree with the finite verb in various ways, such as in person and number, e.g. I am vs. *I is. Position occupied: The subject's position relative to the verb is set depending on the word order of the language. For example, in English, an SVO language, subjects precede the finite verb in declarative clauses, e.g. Tom laughs. Semantic role: A typical subject in the active voice is an agent or theme, i.e. it performs the action expressed by the verb or when it is a theme, it receives a property assigned to it by the predicate. Of these three criteria, the first one (agreement) is the most reliable. The subject agrees with the finite verb in person and number (and sometimes in gender as well). The second and third criterion are merely strong tendencies that can be flouted in certain constructions, e.g.
Tom is studying chemistry. - The three criteria agree identifying Tom as the subject. Is Tom studying chemistry? - The 1st and the 3rd criteria identify Tom as the subject. Chemistry is being studied (by Tom). - The 1st and the 2nd criteria identify Chemistry as the subject. In the first sentence, all three criteria combine to identify Tom as the subject. In the second sentence, which involves the subject-auxiliary inversion of a yes/no-question, the subject immediately follows the finite verb (instead of immediately preceding it), which means the second criterion is flouted. And in the third sentence expressed in the passive voice, the 1st and the 2nd criterion combine to identify chemistry as the subject, whereas the third criterion suggests that by Tom could be the subject of the verb if it were changed to its active form (i.e. Tom is studying Chemistry) because Tom is an agent.
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