1. Verbs 8: The Subject of the Verb
Phrase
Materials by Liz Siler

2. The Subject (of the verb
phrase)
• The subject of the verb phrase should not be
confused with the “topic” of the sentence.
• The topic is what the sentence is about.
• The subject of the verb phrase is a
grammatical structure.
• Sometimes “topic” and “subject” are confused
because in other contexts they are
synonymous.

3. Example
• He speaks three foreign languages
fluently.
– The topic is clearly the matter of speaking
three languages.
– The subject of the verb phrase is “He.”

4. Locating the Subject of the
Verb Phrase
• In simple, declarative (not questions) clauses
(statements with one verb phrase), the subject
generally comes to the left of the verb phrase.
• However, do not assume that everything to the left of
the verb phrase is the subject.
• Other things (we’ll get to those later in the course)
can also come to the left of the verb phrase.
• But it’s generally best to look to the left for the
subject.

5. Examples
• The books </are/ about the Romanov
women.
• The Gaza crisis this last year< /has
brought/ attention to the Palestinians.
• President Obama< /has/ a lot of work
ahead of him.

6. Testing for the Subject of the
Verb Phrase
• You can generally find the subject by
asking a yes/no question.
• Once you have the yes/no question:
The subject is ALL of what comes after
the moved operator and before the rest
of the verb phrase (if there is any rest of
the verb phrase).

7. Examples
• Are the books about the Romanov
women?
• Has the Gaza crisis this last year
brought attention to the Palestinians?
• Does President Obama have a lot of
work ahead of him?

8. Another Test for the Subject
• You can always substitute the subject
for a subject pronoun and the clause
will make perfect sense.

9. Subject Pronouns (Review)
Person
Singular
Plural
1st
I
we
2nd
You
You (all)
3rd
He/she/it
They

10. Examples
• (The books) are about the Romanov women.
– They are about the Romanov women.
• (The Gaza crisis this last year) has brought
attention to the Palestinians.
– It has brought attention to the Palestinians.
• (President Obama) has a lot of work ahead of
him.
– He has a lot of work ahead of him.

11. NOTE
• When you replace a subject with the subject
pronoun, the WHOLE subject must be
replaced.
• Example: The books are about the
Romanov women. >They are about the
Romanov women.
NOT: The they are about the Romanov
women. (The subject was “THE BOOKS” not
“BOOKS.”)
• This is a good test to understand the
parameters of the subject.

12. More on the Subject of the
Verb Phrase
• When the first verb in the verb phrase
is present tense (or past tense of the
verb TO BE), the subject and that verb
agree in number and person (assuming
that verb is not a modal).

13. Examples
• The books are = They are
– The subject is plural (more than one book) and third person.
– The verb must also be third person and plural.
• The Gaza crisis this last year has = It has
– The subject is singular (one crisis this last year) and third
person.
– The verb must also be third person and singular.
• President Obama has = He has
– The subject is singular (one person) and third person.
– The verb must also be third person and singular.

14. To Remember:
• The left-most verb in a verb phrase shows:
•
the tense of the verb phrase
•
any agreement in person (w/ subject)
•
any agreement in number (w/ subject)