Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects

Definitions

• A noun is a word or set of words for a person, place, thing, or idea. A noun of more than one word (tennis court, gas station) is called a compound noun.

There are common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are words for a general class of people, places, things, and ideas (man, city, award, honesty). They are not capitalized. Proper nouns are always capitalized. They name specific people, places, and things (Joe, Chicago, Academy Award).

• A verb is a word or set of words that shows action (runs, is going, has been painting); feeling (loves, envies); or state of being (am, are, is, have been, was, seem).

Examples:
He ran around the block.
I like my friend.
They seem friendly.

State-of-being verbs are called linking verbs. They include all forms of the verb to be (be, being, been, am, is, are, was, were), plus such words as look, feel, appear, act, go, followed by an adjective. (See Adjectives and Adverbs)

Examples:
You look happy.
We feel fine.
He went ballistic.

Verbs often consist of more than one word. For instance, had been breaking down is a four-word verb. It has a two-word main verb, breaking down (also called a phrasal verb), and two helping verbs (had and been). Helping verbs are so named because they help clarify the intended meaning.

Many verbs can function as helping verbs, including is, shall, must, do, has, can, keep, get, start, help, etc.

You will sometimes hear the word participle, which is the form of a verb used with helping verbs to make verb tenses or is used to form adjectives. For instance, breaking and broken are the present and past participles, respectively, of the verb break. A broken dish is an example of a phrase containing a participle as an adjective (see Adjectives and Adverbs).

Verbs often take direct objects, which receive the action of the verb carried out by the subject.

Examples:
I like cake. (cake receives the action, like, done by the subject, I)
She lifts weights. (weights receives the action, lifts, done by the subject, She)

Verbs may also take indirect objects, which receive the direct object. You can spot an indirect object if it makes sense to place to or for in front of it.

Examples:
I gave Joe the cake. (The indirect object, Joe, receives the direct object, cake, given by the subject, I. Note that you could also say I gave the cake to Joe.)
She did me a favor. (The indirect object, me, is affected by the direct object, favor, done by the subject, She. Note that you could also say She did a favor for me.)

Sometimes verbs require prepositions to complete a sentence. A noun affected by a preposition is called simply the object of a preposition.

Examples:
Stop talking about them. (The object of the preposition about is them.)
I saw someone inside the house. (The object of the preposition inside is the house.)

Gerund is another verb-related term we'll mention only briefly. Gerunds are also called verbal nouns, because they are formed when verbs have -ing added to them and are used as nouns.

Example:
Walking is great exercise. (The –ing word, the gerund, is the subject of the sentence.)

• A subject is the noun, pronoun, or set of words that performs the verb.

Examples:
The woman hurried.
Woman is the subject.
She was late.
She is the subject.
The Shape of Water won an Academy Award.
The Shape of Water is the subject.