Lecture 4/2012

The Subject
1.
The subject is the main part of the sentence which shows who/what/ performs the action denoted
by the predicate or to whom/ what/ a feature or characteristic denoted by the predicative is
ascribed.

2. Ways of expressing the subject: The Noun phrase is the only phrase that may function as
the subject of a clause.
Review the structure of a noun phrase and give examples that may act as ‘subjects’ of a clause.

Examples:
a) a noun in the nominative case:
The sun seemed to bathe the whole landscape with light and warmth./simple noun/
The sunlight seemed to lay a caress all down her clinging cream-coloured
frock./compound noun/.
Her last thought was for him and his mother not to forget her./noun phrase/
b) a substantivized adjective or participle:
The wicked think other people are as bad as themselves.
The blue of the sky had got even darker.
The dying do not care about this
c) any other word when it is substantivized
“You” is a personal pronoun.
“But” is an adversative conjunction.
d) by a proper name (sometimes accompanied by a determinative or modifier):
Young Oedipus ripped his clothes in despair.
e) by a fixed group of words, indicating title of a work or an office, enterprise, institution but
referring to a single notion:
“The Mill on the Floss” is a delightful novel.
f) a pronoun:
She couldn’t help going home and stealing into the kitchen. /personal pronoun/.
Have you yourself what’s best for men? /personal pronoun emphasized/.
Each had an arm lightly within his arm. /indefinite pronoun/.
Who knows but the world may end tonight? /interrogative pronoun/.
That was a dagger, indeed. /demonstrative pronoun/.
g) a numeral:
The two set to work to finish it in time.
Where one is wise, two are happy.
The second made a bow to them.
h) a gerund :
Rowing is his favourite sport.
Walking is pleasant and necessary.
i) an infinitive:
To prolong doubt was to prolong hope.
To live by hope is to die by hunger.
j) a syntactical combination with an infinitive, or gerund or participle:
How to deal with that question was not such a difficult thing.
 Her being so busy was a great relief to me.
Helping them on such an occasion was his great pride.
Within syntactical combination we may also have the case when a noun, a pronoun, or numeral is
connected with another noun by the preposition with or of:
A little girl with two buckets burst into the yard.
A lot of boys were waiting for him in the schoolyard.
k) by a subordinate subject clause:
What is worth doing is worth doing well.
Notes:
1. In colloquial speech, there is a deviation from the rule which requires the subject to be in the
nominative:
- a form which is accepted by many grammarians -the use of me instead of I in answer to the
question:
“Who’s there?”.
- a form which is not yet accepted by grammarians but is very extensively used:
“My sister is four years older than me”.
- a form which has practically no justification and is used by very few people so far:
“Who did it?” “Us did it.”
3. Classification of Subjects
Subjects may be classified according to: - their content or semantic value
- their composition (form and structure)
3.1. As to their content or semantic values they may be:
A. grammatical or formal
B. logical
C. impersonal
A. Grammatical subject is also called formal or apparent. It is directly connected with the predicate
and determines agreement between the latter and subject:
It was pleasant to drive there.
B. Logical subject is the real subject of the sentence. It is usually dealt with in such examples as
that above where the logical subject is to drive, as well as in relation to a) passive constructions
(common to many languages) and b) introductory constructions (specific to English).
a) English passive constructions, either personal or impersonal, correspond to the Romanian
reflexive-possessive constructions (impersonal in meaning) of the types:
S-au construit multe blocuri noi in acest cartier.
Se crede ca echipa aceasta este mai buna.

Tasks: Translate the above examples into English. Give other examples of your own.

In English, we use a passive construction avoiding mention of the agent laying emphasis on the object,
for stylistic effects, etc. In English the indirect object may turn into a subject for a passive
construction. For example, the sentence ( in its active form):
They showed us the art museum.
may turn either into:
The art museum was shown to us
or into:
We were shown the art museum.
which is the frequently used type in English.

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There are sentences whose subject may be formed by the prepositional object of the active
construction, in case of some verbs followed by obligatory prepositions turned into the passive:
This grammar book has often been referred to by the teacher.
in which book is the grammatical subject, has been referred to: predicate, and by the teacher is
the prepositional object of agent –real subject of the sentence.

b) Introductory constructions may be

1. anticipatory
2. announcing or exclamatory
3. emphatic
1. Anticipatory introductory construction have no syntactical function as they are used instead of
the real subject:
It’s useless to try again.
/it is the grammatical or formal subject; to try the logical subject/.
In constructions introduced by there, emphasis is laid on the existence or absence of the real subject,
so the verb to be in such a construction as there is , there are is not a copulative one:
There is a car at the gate.
There are two Fords in front of the stadium gates.
This type of construction may by used with such verbs as: to come, to fall, to occur, to live, to lie, to
remain, etc.
There comes a time when age tells.
There were falling on the ground yellow leaves which formed such a beautiful carpet
among the trees. ‘
There lived a fairly large family in that poor house.
This is the form preferred, particularly in written English, when the verb is of diminished content and
the subject is weighted as to content and form.
Suddenly there came in a young man with black hair, an enormous nose, ....
We may remark the use of there with the infinitive and gerund:
Nor do we want there to be such a great difference of opinion on this matter.
Aren’t you interested at all in there being something wrong about that?

Notes:
a. The construction there is is not to be mistaken for it is and there are for they are:
Has he seen the twins? They are in the garden playing with the other children.
There are children in the garden.
b. When the verb to be has its subject expressed in the previous sentence the construction they are is used, but when the
verb to be is followed by its subject the construction there are is used:
They are two hardworking workers.
There are a lot of hardworking workers in this team.
The same for the constructions there is and it is:
There is one more question you have to answer.
It is a difficult one, you know.

2. Announcing or exclamatory constructions emphasize the approach of the real subject by a sort of
interjection calling attention to the subject:
Here is John.
There goes Sandra.
Note that when the real subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, it comes immediately after the
introductory subject there.

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3. Emphatic introductory constructions underline or single out parts of sentence:
It is he/father who /that didn’t admit of that. /subject/.
It was him that they were waiting for. /the direct object/.
It is to her that I dedicate this, not to him. /indirect object/.
It was of her illness that I heard, not of their parting. /prepositional object/.
It was by a frightful snowstorm that he arrived at the chalet. /adverbial modifier of
attending circumstance/.
It was a couple of years ago that I saw him last. /adverbial modifier of time/
It was at the library that I had lost my woman. /adverbial modifier of place/.

Note: Introductory emphatic constructions may underline or single out any part of the sentence, except the predicate.
The latter needs other means of emphasis: do, does, did for some verbal predicates, stress for other ones, introductory
anticipatory constructions for partially stressing the predicatives of the nominal ones.

C. Impersonal subjects do not refer to a definite person or thing. They are usually used with reference
to time and weather, distance or state of matters in general.
The common subject in impersonal sentences is it, which may refer to:
- time : It was getting dark.
- weather (in construction with a nominal predicate): It is hot.
- natural phenomena: It was snowing pretty heavily.
- distance: It’s two miles to their farm.
- general state of matters: It is beautiful/terrible.

II. In point of their structure, subjects may be classified into:

1. simple
2. compound
3. complex
4. double
1. Simple subjects are expressed by one word but may be sometimes accompanied by attributes:
The sun was shining brightly.
Note: The subject is generally omitted in constructions beginning with as:
As is usual, as is normal, as is but natural/normal, as was to be expected, as was shown
elsewhere.
2. Compound subjects refer to one person or thing, although they are expressed by two or several
nouns:
The painter and decorator has just come.
Age and wedlock tames man and beast.
Bread and butter is a wholesome food.
Note the fact that the agreement is in the singular.
There are instances when they may not refer to one thing but they are perceived as one entity :
Strawberries and cream is delicious. (compound subject)
on the other hand,
Strawberries and cream are delicious.
where the subject is a coordinated one.
3. Coordinated subjects include two or more elements referring to several notions joined by
coordinating conjunctions. The agreement will be in the plural.
Measles and mumps are quite dangerous for children.
Weight and measures take away strife.
She and I were together for a while.
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4. Complex subjects are made up of heterogeneous elements, these elements giving the full
meaning to the subject. They are also called subject-phrases. We may mention:
a) the for-to phrase:
For him to interpret the poem was the most difficult thing in the world.
b) the nominative with the infinitive:
He was heard to unlock the door.
c) the nominative with the participle:
The trout were watched moving among the stones.
d) subject clause:
How to help him stand on his own feet again is beyond power.

5. Double subjects consist both of a noun and a pronoun and occur only in folk poetry or in
careless speech, or when a poet wants to imitate the folk style:
But our love it was stronger by far.
And this maiden she lived with no other thought.
Sometimes, in familiar speech, the repetition of the subject is accompanied by the repetition of the
predicate:
He was a very good boy, George was.
He’s got a lot of brains, George has.