Subject
Subjects
A subject is one of the five major elements of clause structure. The other four are: verb, object, complement and adjunct. Subjects are essential in declarative, negative and interrogative clauses.
The subject acts as the ‘doer’ or agent of an action. Subjects are typically noun phrases (e.g. a noun or pronoun and any dependent words before or after it):
The teacher told the class to sit down.(determiner + noun)
Doesn’t he eat meat? (pronoun)
Spring is like a breath of fresh air after a winter indoors. (noun)
Callum is so good at sport. (proper noun)
They don’t open the shop on Sundays.(pronoun)
Surfing is becoming more and more popular.(-ing form as a noun)
