The subject.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 537.

PARTS OF THE SENTENCE

In a sentence we distinguish the principal parts, secondary parts and independent elements. The principal parts of a sentence are the subject and the predicate. The secondary parts are the attribute, the object, and the adverbial modifier.

THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF THE SENTENCE

The subject is the principal part of a two-member sentence, which is grammatically independent on the other parts of the sentence and on which the second principal part (the predicate) is grammatically dependent, i.e. in most cases it agrees with the subject in number and person.

The subject can be expressed by a single word or a group of words. Thus it can be expressed by:

1. A noun in the common case.

The steamerhas arrived.

The meetingis over.

2. A pronoun –– personal, demonstrative, defining, indefinite, negative, possessive, interrogative.

Heworks at a factory.

Everyonewas silent for a minute.

Nothingwas said.

Thatmade me feel embarrassed.

Whotore their book?

The subject is often expressed by the indefinite pronoun one or the personal pronouns they, you, we, which refer not to any particular person or persons but to people in general. These sentences are rendered into Russian by impersonal sentences.

Onewants to live forever. –– Хочется жить вечно.

Theysay he's clever. –– Говорят, что он умный.

We should be careful when crossing the road. –– Нужно быть осторожным при переходе через улицу.

3. A substantivized adjective or participle.

The richalso cry.

The woundedwere taken good care of.

4. A numeral (cardinal or ordinal).

Threewere absent from the lecture.

The firstand the fourthstood beside him.

5. An infinitive or an infinitive phrase.

To erris human.

For him to comewas impossible.

6. A gerund or a gerundial phrase.

Smokingis not allowed here.

Anne's being absentmight upset him a little.

7. Any part of speech used in the meaning of a noun.

“Had” is the Past Tense of the verb “to have”.

“No”is his usual reply to any request.

8. A group of words which is one part of the sentence, i.e. a syntactically indivisible group.

The needle and treadislost.

There's a lot of truthin that, of course.

It as a subject of a sentence.

When it doesn't represent any living being or thing and performs a purely grammatical function, then it is a formal subject. Here we must distinguish: (1) the impersonal it, (2) the introductory it, (3) the emphatic it.

1. The impersonal it is used to denote time, atmospheric conditions and distance.

It's ten o'clock sharp.

It's getting dark.

It's not very far to Brest.

2. The introductory it introduces the real subject, expressed by the Infinitive, Gerund or subordinate clause:

It's no use tellinghim about it.

It was difficult to find a suitable house.

It was clear that he would not come.

3. The emphatic it is used for emphasis.

Itwas his sister whom I met in the park. or It was in the part where I met his sister.