What Are Simple Subjects?
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
What Are Simple Subjects?
One interesting thing about grammar is that we may often use it correctly without even realizing how or why. In other words, we might know the best way to apply a word or a phrase even if we can’t explain it.
As natural to us as the air that we breathe, simple subjects appear in our writing and speech every day. In this discussion, we’ll define what they are and review a few examples.
What Are Simple Subjects in English Grammar?
A simple subject is a noun word or group of noun words that tell you what a sentence is about. It is the who or what that is performing the action in a sentence (as communicated by a verb). The simple subject also is not modified: It is the sentence subject standing alone.
Consider the following sentences:
Wolves howl in the night.
Roaming wolves howl in the night.
Both sentences have wolves as the simple subject. You’ll also note that the first sentence subject is unmodified. The second sentence subject is modified by roaming, which is not part of the simple subject.
Let’s look at another example:
Tyrell and Priscilla heard the wolves howl in the night.
This sentence has two simple subjects (also referred to as a compound subject). Tyrell and Priscilla both performed the action of hearing the wolves howl.
The simple subject can include as many unmodified nouns as needed for the sentence:
Tyrell, Ellie, and Priscilla heard the wolves howl in the night.
This sentence has three simple subjects: Tyrell, Ellie, and Priscilla.
A simple subject also can be a compound noun (e.g., living room, high school, post office):
The living room is at the back of the house.
The high school is opening for the fall semester in the first week of September.
The post office offers priority shipping.
In each of these sentences, the simple subject is formed by two words that create a combined singular unit. The first word (living, high, post) is not a modifier but rather a component of the compound.
Why Do Simple Subjects Matter for Grammar?
Simple subjects are important because they help us determine whether verbs should be singular or plural. A singular simple subject will have a singular verb. A plural simple subject will have a plural verb.
Examples
The high school is opening for the fall semester in the first week of September.
The high schools are opening for the fall semester in the first week of September.
In the first sentence, the simple subject is the singular high school, which takes the singular present progressive verb is opening. In the second sentence, the simple subject is the plural high schools, which takes the plural present progressive verb are opening.
Examples
Tyrell hears the wolves howl in the night.
Tyrell and Priscilla hear the wolves howl in the night.
In the first sentence, the simple subject is the singular Tyrell, which takes the singular verb hears. In the second sentence, the simple subjects are Tyrell and Priscilla, which take the plural verb hear.
Pop Quiz
Identify the simple subjects in each sentence.
1. The fluffy cat jumped up onto the counter.
2. Those old guitars look like they can still make some good noise.
3. Beatrice and Monica said we can start the card game at seven p.m.
4. Private, corporal, and sergeant are enlisted ranks in the Army.
5. The red sled and the blue shoe both belong to Bobby.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. The fluffy cat jumped up onto the counter.
2. Those old guitars look like they can still make some good noise.
3. Beatrice and Monica said we can start the card game at seven p.m.
4. Private, corporal, and sergeant are enlisted ranks in the Army.
5. The red sled and the blue shoe both belong to Bobby.
Wish to Improve Your Grammar Even More?
Our goal is to provide you knowledge and practice that support your desire to be an even more precise and eloquent communicator. We encourage you to visit our website often, subscribe to our newsletter, and browse our vast archive of topics!
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
We have had a debate about whether to use kickstart or kickstarts in the following headline. I think it depends on what the subject is — Record or Bond Deals:
A Record $100 Billion in Government Bond Deals Kickstarts 2023
or
A Record $100 Billion in Government Bond Deals Kickstart 2023
— Are you able to give a definite judgment?
Thank you!
The subject is “$100 Billion.” Our Rule 7 of Subject-Verb Agreement says, “Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit.” Therefore, the following is correct:
A Record $100 Billion in Government Bond Deals Kickstarts 2023
What about “Either Tyrell or Priscilla knows how the wolf’s howl sounded”?
The simple subject is “Tyrell or Priscilla.” The singular subject (“Priscilla”) following the coordinating conjunction “or” determines the agreement with the singular verb (“knows”). See Rules 2 and 3 of Subject-Verb Agreement.