However, not everyone fully understands what this mysterious definition means. Let's try to fill in the gaps in our knowledge and understand in detail, the predicate and the subject. What parts of speech can they be expressed in? And in what cases are they separated in a letter such as a dash?
Definition
To understand what a predicate and a subject are, it is necessary to understand their definitions.
Subject who? or what? and denoting the subject that is being discussed in the sentence. Warm weather prevailed throughout the region. In this example, the word "weather" acts as a subject (that is, the subject of speech), and the grammatical features that the other main member of this sentence, the predicate, depend on it.
Predicate- this is one of the main members of the proposal, answering the questions: what to do? what? what's happening? who it(or what's happened) subject? It denotes an action that is performed by the subject of speech, its state or sign. In the above example, the verb " established". From the subject, he received such features as the singular and the feminine ending.
Ways of expressing the subject and predicate
This is one of the most difficult questions in this topic. Indeed, in order to understand what the predicate and the subject are, it is necessary to be able to correctly determine them in speech.
Subject
The subject of a sentence can be expressed in the following parts of speech:
- Noun or pronoun (in I. p.). Good weather has set in.
- Adjective, numeral or participle (in I. p.). Seven do not wait for one.
- Composite structures:
- numeral + noun: There were a lot of people in the room;
- adjective + preposition + noun: The best of the athletes did not come to the start of the competition;
- pronoun + adjective or participle: Something light rustled in the air;
- noun + preposition + noun: Elena and her husband came to visit friends.
- Infinitive. Smoking is injurious to health.
Predicate
The predicate in a sentence can be expressed by the following parts of speech:
- verb (simple or compound). Marina dreams of becoming a biologist.
- Noun. Victor is my only love.
- Adjective or participle. How rich is the nature of the Ural Mountains!
Dash between subject and verb
The table below clearly shows in which cases the main members
sentences are separated in writing by this punctuation mark.
Cases when a dash is put | Examples |
noun in I. p. - noun. in I. p. | My years are my wealth |
noun in I. p. - verb. unspecified f. | The main task for the newlyweds is to learn to understand each other |
vb. unspecified f. - vb. unspecified f. | Smoking is injurious to health |
vb. unspecified f. - noun in I. p. | Loving is an art |
noun in I. p. - idiomatic expression | My friend is a shirt guy! |
quantity num. - quantity num. | Seven six - forty two |
quantity num. - noun in I. p. | Eight hundred meters - the length of the stadium's running track |
noun in I. p. - quantity. num. | The depth of our pool is four meters |
It should be remembered what the predicate and subject are, as well as the fact that when they change places in a sentence, they change their functions. My best friend is Julia. Julia is my best friend.
What is a Subject?
Subject- this is the main member of a two-part sentence, grammatically independent of the other members of the sentence, denoting the subject of thought, the sign of which is determined by the predicate. The morphologized form of expressing the subject is su-. noun in the nominative case. The sounds of some kind of waltz are carried along the water (L. Tolstoy). The subject is also expressed:
1) pronouns (personal, interrogative, relative, indefinite, negative, i.e. pronominal nouns). Finally I met him (Pushkin). Who is jumping, who is rushing under the cold haze? (Zhukovsky). She does not take her eyes off the road that goes through the grove (G o n-ch a r o v). Something crushed his head and chest, oppressed him (Chekhov). Since then, no one has spoken to Tatyana (Turgenev);
2) quantitative numbers. So, seven players call it a poker, eleven - sticks, seventy-seven - Semyon Semyonych, ninety - grandfather, etc. (Chekhov);
3) any substantiated part of speech. Few will take this long road (Gorky). Not everyone is able to live alone (Krylov). The people around were silent (Furmanov). Seven do not wait for one (proverb). Suddenly, in the midst of an extreme silence in the air ... his whee, whee, is clearly heard in a ravine close to us (Turgenev);
4) infinitive. It was not difficult to work, and most importantly, it was fun (Pavlenko);
5) phrases;
a) quantitatively-nominal. Two workers in white aprons dug around the house (Chekhov). Half an hour later, eight armed men entered the innkeeper's house (N. Ostrovsky). A lot of people have already gathered in the prince's sakla (Lermontov). From all. the sides of the dogs fled from fifty (Krylov) (when indicating the approximate number using the words more, less, over, about, before, etc., the subject is expressed by a phrase that does not include the nominative case);
b) a combination of an adjective (numeral, pronoun) in the nominative case and a noun (pronoun) in the genitive case with the preposition from. One of them waved his butt (Gorky). Each of them took a very big risk (N. Ostrovsky);
c) a combination of an indefinite pronoun with an adjective. Something native is heard in the long songs of the coachman (Pushkin). Perhaps there is something a little funny in this feeling (Gorky);
d) a combination of a noun (pronoun) in the nominative case and a noun (pronoun) in the instrumental case with the preposition s. Grandfather and mother walked ahead (Gorky). My friend and I left before sunrise (Sholokhov);
e) terminological combination. The Red Cross sent girls who had completed courses (Panova). Some researchers point to the possibility of expressing the subject not only in the form of the nominative case of any nominal part of speech, but also in the form of the genitive case. The “grammatical equivalents of the nominative case of the subject” are called (E. Popov), for example: Let him live for himself, Let him walk, - where the personal pronouns of the third person in the form of the genitive case take the position of the subject, which in some cases is indicated by the form of agreement of the predicate (Already let her be silent), which does not allow recognition of the impersonality of these sentences, and in other cases - the presence of applications or definitions in the form of the nominative case with these pronouns (Let them, dogs, rest from hunger; ). The same researcher notes that the role of the subject is also the genitive case of the negative pronoun nothing, for example) And nothing around him interferes (Turgenev); Nothing is sweet to me (A. Ostrovsky).
Yu. M. Kostinsky also speaks about constructions with the genitive case, converging in their syntactic role with the subject. He refers to them constructions with a quantitative meaning, which “are included in the core of the sentence and express subjective meaning” (for example: After all, there is plenty of evidence; And the kavuns are in the corner of the mountain; There were three fighters), as well as some negative constructions (for example: There is no loss; There was no response; nothing like this will happen again). Recognizing the legitimacy of the above reasoning, it should be noted the stylistic marking of the given and similar examples: they are all inherent in colloquial speech.
Grammar independent; denotes an object. The subject names who or what the sentence is talking about, and answers the questions “who?”, “What?”. When parsing a sentence, it is underlined with one line.
The subject and all minor members of the sentence related to the subject form composition of the subject.
Expressing the subject with parts of speech
Most often, the subject is expressed in the nominative case of a noun: Ferry approached the pier.
In addition, the subject can be expressed:
- pronouns:
- personal pronouns: He looked to the right, then to the left.
- interrogative pronouns: Who didn't make it, he was late.
- relative pronouns: She keeps her eyes on the road what goes through the grove.
- indefinite pronouns: lived someone a lonely, lonely person.
- negative pronouns: None does not know this.
- numeral: Seven one is not expected.
- indefinite form of the verb (independent infinitive): Walk the mountains are dangerous at night.
- Own name: Ivan- locksmith.
The subject can be expressed lexically or syntactically indecomposable phrase.
- Composite geographical names: Arctic Ocean.
- institution name: Ministry of Education.
- fixed phrases: railroad, agriculture.
- winged words: Sisyphean labor, filkin's letter.
- Quantity noun + genitive noun: a lot of people, a number of people, some visitors
- Numeral or pronoun how many, several, so many+ noun in the genitive case: two birches, several buildings, many birds .
If an approximate number is indicated using words more, less, about etc., the subject is expressed by a phrase without the nominative case: over six hundred heads, about seven people - Adjective, numeral or pronoun in the nominative case + from+ noun or pronoun in the genitive case: the best student
- Indefinite pronoun + adjective: something native, something mysterious
- Noun (or personal pronoun) in the nominative case + from+ noun in instrumental case
- predictive constructions. "Congratulations. Wanna see you. Maybe I’ll come back in the fall” did not cause any joy in him.
see also
Write a review on the article "Subject"
Notes
Literature
- Valgina N. S., Rosenthal D. E., Fomina M. I. Modern Russian
- Fominykh B.I. Course of lectures on the modern Russian language: the syntax of a simple sentence
Links
- Arutyunova N. D.// Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. - M .: SE, 1990. - S. 379-380.
An excerpt characterizing the Subject
Indeed, Natasha, who had just entered with inaudible steps, was sitting in Sonya's place.Ever since she'd followed him, he'd always had that physical sensation of her closeness. She was sitting on an armchair, sideways to him, blocking the light of the candle from him, and knitting a stocking. (She had learned to knit stockings ever since Prince Andrei had told her that no one knows how to look after the sick as well as old nannies who knit stockings, and that there is something soothing in knitting a stocking.) Her thin fingers quickly fingered from time to time spokes colliding, and the thoughtful profile of her lowered face was clearly visible to him. She made a move - the ball rolled from her knees. She shuddered, looked back at him, and shielding the candle with her hand, with a careful, flexible and precise movement, bent over, picked up the ball and sat down in her former position.
He looked at her without moving, and saw that after her movement she needed to take a deep breath, but she did not dare to do this and carefully caught her breath.
In the Trinity Lavra they talked about the past, and he told her that if he were alive, he would thank God forever for his wound, which brought him back to her; but since then they have never talked about the future.
“Could it or couldn’t it be? he thought now, looking at her and listening to the light steely sound of the spokes. “Is it really only then that fate brought me so strangely together with her in order for me to die? .. Was it possible that the truth of life was revealed to me only so that I would live in a lie?” I love her more than anything in the world. But what should I do if I love her? he said, and he suddenly groaned involuntarily, out of a habit he had acquired during his suffering.
Hearing this sound, Natasha put down her stocking, leaned closer to him, and suddenly, noticing his luminous eyes, went up to him with a light step and bent down.
- You are not asleep?
- No, I have been looking at you for a long time; I felt when you entered. Nobody like you, but gives me that soft silence... that light. I just want to cry with joy.
Natasha moved closer to him. Her face shone with ecstatic joy.
“Natasha, I love you too much. More than anything.
- And I? She turned away for a moment. - Why too much? - she said.
- Why too much? .. Well, what do you think, how do you feel to your heart, to your heart's content, will I be alive? What do you think?
- I'm sure, I'm sure! - Natasha almost screamed, passionately taking him by both hands.
He paused.
- How nice! And taking her hand, he kissed it.
Natasha was happy and excited; and at once she remembered that this was impossible, that he needed calmness.
"But you didn't sleep," she said, suppressing her joy. “Try to sleep…please.”
He released her, shaking her hand, she went to the candle and again sat down in her previous position. Twice she looked back at him, his eyes shining towards her. She gave herself a lesson on the stocking and told herself that until then she would not look back until she finished it.
Indeed, soon after that he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He didn't sleep long and suddenly woke up in a cold sweat.
Falling asleep, he thought about the same thing that he thought about from time to time - about life and death. And more about death. He felt closer to her.
Subject- this is the main member of the sentence, which denotes the subject of speech and answers the question of the nominative case (who? what?).
Pay attention to the meaning (a) and the form of the expression (b) of the subject:
a) the subject is what is being said in a sentence (subject of speech);
b) the main form of expression of the subject - nominative(question who? what?).
Note!
To the question what? answers not only the nominative, but also the accusative case of the noun; nominative and accusative forms can also coincide. To distinguish between these cases, you can substitute a noun of the 1st declension (for example - book): nominative - book; accusative - book.
Wed: On the table lies pencil (book) - nominative case; I see a pencil(book) - accusative case.
Let's compare two sentences:
1. I did not sleep; 2. I didn't sleep.
They mean roughly the same thing in meaning. However, in the first sentence I did not sleep) has a subject, because there is a pronoun in the nominative case ( I), in the second sentence ( I couldn't sleep) there is no subject, because there is no pronoun in the nominative case ( to me- dative).
Ways of expressing the subject
A) Subject - one word:
| The form | Examples |
|---|---|
| 1. Name | |
| 1.1. Noun | eldest son(who?) left for the capital. |
| 1.2. Pronoun | He(who?) left for the capital. |
| 1.3. Adjective | Older(who?) left for the capital. |
| 1.4. Participle | Raised(who?) the sword will die by the sword. |
| 1.5. Numeral | Two(who?) left for the capital. |
| 2. Infinitive (indefinite form of the verb) | Be in love(what?) - this is wonderful. Live(what?) - serve the motherland. |
| 3. Invariable (significant or service) part of speech in the meaning of a noun | |
| 3.1. Adverb | It has come and the fateful day after tomorrow(what?). |
| 3.2. Pretext | "IN"(what?) is a suggestion. |
| 3.3. Union | "BUT"(what?) - antagonistic alliance. |
| 3.4. Particle | "Not"(what?) verbs are written separately. |
| 3.5. Interjection | Rushed from all sides "ay"(what?). |
| 4. Indirect form of a name, conjugated form of a verb, sentence in the meaning of a noun | "Brother"(what?) - dative form of a noun. "Reading"(what?) - 1st person form of the present tense verb. "Do not forget yourself, do not worry, work moderately" (what?) - was his motto. |
B) The subject is an integral, that is, syntactically indivisible phrase (main + dependent word):
| The form | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Name in the nominative case (adverb) + name in the genitive case | quantitative value | Five chairs stood against the wall. A few chairs stood against the wall. Some of the chairs stood against the wall. There were many chairs against the wall. |
| 2. Name in the nominative case + name in the genitive case with a preposition from | Selective meaning | Two of us will go to the capital. Each of us will go to the capital. Many of us will go to the capital. |
| 3. Name in the nominative case + name in the instrumental case with the preposition c (only with the predicate - in the plural!) | Consistency value | Wed: Mother and son are going(plural) relax. Mother and son are going(units) relax. |
| 4. Nouns beginning, middle, end+ noun in genitive case | Phase value | It was the end of September. |
| 5. Noun + agreed name (phraseologism, terminological combination and phrase with metaphorical meaning) | The members of the phrase only in the aggregate express a single or inseparable concept in this context | The Milky Way spread across the sky. white flies(snowflakes) circled in the sky. A cap of blond curls swayed on his head. |
| 6. Indefinite pronoun (from the basics who, what) + agreed name | undefined value | something unpleasant was in all its forms. |
Note!
1) You can always ask questions to the subject who? what? , even if it does not change case by case.
2) Nominative case- the only case with which the subject can be expressed.
Note. The subject can be expressed in the indirect case if it indicates the approximate number of someone or something. Wed: thirty ships went out to sea. About thirty ships went out to sea. Over thirty ships went out to sea.
Subject Parsing Plan
Specify how the subject is expressed:
- Single word: noun, adjective, pronoun, numeral, participle in the nominative case; adverb or other invariable form in the meaning of a noun; infinitive.
- Syntactically indivisible phrase (indicate the meaning and form of the main word).
Sample parsing
The lake seemed to be covered with ice(Prishvin).
Subject Lake expressed by a noun in the nominative case.
Around noon, a lot of round high clouds usually appear.(Turgenev).
Subject many clouds expressed by a syntactically indivisible (whole) phrase with a quantitative meaning; main word (noun) lots of) is in the nominative case.
In the dark, the bearded man stumbled on something(Sholokhov).
Subject bearded expressed by an adjective in the meaning of a noun in the nominative case.
But to pay for something, even the most necessary, suddenly two hundred, three hundred, five hundred rubles seemed to them almost suicide.(Goncharov).
Subject pay expressed in the infinitive.
It's been about an hour(Paustovsky).
Subject about an hour expressed by the indirect case of the noun hour with the preposition about and indicates the approximate amount of time.
Subject- this is the main member of the sentence, which denotes the subject of speech and answers the question of the nominative case (who? what?).
Pay attention to the meaning (a) and the form of the expression (b) of the subject:
a) the subject is what is being said in a sentence (subject of speech);
b) the main form of expression of the subject - nominative(question who? what?).
Note!
To the question what? answers not only the nominative, but also the accusative case of the noun; nominative and accusative forms can also coincide. To distinguish between these cases, you can substitute a noun of the 1st declension (for example - book): nominative - book; accusative - book.
Wed: On the table lies pencil (book) - nominative case; I see a pencil(book) - accusative case.
Let's compare two sentences:
1. I did not sleep; 2. I didn't sleep.
They mean roughly the same thing in meaning. However, in the first sentence I did not sleep) has a subject, because there is a pronoun in the nominative case ( I), in the second sentence ( I couldn't sleep) there is no subject, because there is no pronoun in the nominative case ( to me- dative).
Ways of expressing the subject
A) Subject - one word:
| The form | Examples |
|---|---|
| 1. Name | |
| 1.1. Noun | eldest son(who?) left for the capital. |
| 1.2. Pronoun | He(who?) left for the capital. |
| 1.3. Adjective | Older(who?) left for the capital. |
| 1.4. Participle | Raised(who?) the sword will die by the sword. |
| 1.5. Numeral | Two(who?) left for the capital. |
| 2. Infinitive (indefinite form of the verb) | Be in love(what?) - this is wonderful. Live(what?) - serve the motherland. |
| 3. Invariable (significant or service) part of speech in the meaning of a noun | |
| 3.1. Adverb | It has come and the fateful day after tomorrow(what?). |
| 3.2. Pretext | "IN"(what?) is a suggestion. |
| 3.3. Union | "BUT"(what?) - antagonistic alliance. |
| 3.4. Particle | "Not"(what?) verbs are written separately. |
| 3.5. Interjection | Rushed from all sides "ay"(what?). |
| 4. Indirect form of a name, conjugated form of a verb, sentence in the meaning of a noun | "Brother"(what?) - dative form of a noun. "Reading"(what?) - 1st person form of the present tense verb. "Do not forget yourself, do not worry, work moderately" (what?) - was his motto. |
B) The subject is an integral, that is, syntactically indivisible phrase (main + dependent word):
| The form | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Name in the nominative case (adverb) + name in the genitive case | quantitative value | Five chairs stood against the wall. A few chairs stood against the wall. Some of the chairs stood against the wall. There were many chairs against the wall. |
| 2. Name in the nominative case + name in the genitive case with a preposition from | Selective meaning | Two of us will go to the capital. Each of us will go to the capital. Many of us will go to the capital. |
| 3. Name in the nominative case + name in the instrumental case with the preposition c (only with the predicate - in the plural!) | Consistency value | Wed: Mother and son are going(plural) relax. Mother and son are going(units) relax. |
| 4. Nouns beginning, middle, end+ noun in genitive case | Phase value | It was the end of September. |
| 5. Noun + agreed name (phraseologism, terminological combination and phrase with metaphorical meaning) | The members of the phrase only in the aggregate express a single or inseparable concept in this context | The Milky Way spread across the sky. white flies(snowflakes) circled in the sky. A cap of blond curls swayed on his head. |
| 6. Indefinite pronoun (from the basics who, what) + agreed name | undefined value | something unpleasant was in all its forms. |
Note!
1) You can always ask questions to the subject who? what? , even if it does not change case by case.
2) Nominative case- the only case with which the subject can be expressed.
Note. The subject can be expressed in the indirect case if it indicates the approximate number of someone or something. Wed: thirty ships went out to sea. About thirty ships went out to sea. Over thirty ships went out to sea.
Subject Parsing Plan
Specify how the subject is expressed:
- Single word: noun, adjective, pronoun, numeral, participle in the nominative case; adverb or other invariable form in the meaning of a noun; infinitive.
- Syntactically indivisible phrase (indicate the meaning and form of the main word).
Sample parsing
The lake seemed to be covered with ice(Prishvin).
Subject Lake expressed by a noun in the nominative case.
Around noon, a lot of round high clouds usually appear.(Turgenev).
Subject many clouds expressed by a syntactically indivisible (whole) phrase with a quantitative meaning; main word (noun) lots of) is in the nominative case.
In the dark, the bearded man stumbled on something(Sholokhov).
Subject bearded expressed by an adjective in the meaning of a noun in the nominative case.
But to pay for something, even the most necessary, suddenly two hundred, three hundred, five hundred rubles seemed to them almost suicide.(Goncharov).
Subject pay expressed in the infinitive.
It's been about an hour(Paustovsky).
Subject about an hour expressed by the indirect case of the noun hour with the preposition about and indicates the approximate amount of time.
