Lecture Notes
Subjects and Verbs

A Formula

Here is a formula that should help you locate the subjects, verbs, and direct objects in most sentences and clauses.  The key to the formula is this question:
WHO DOES WHAT?
If you look at any sentence and can answer this question, you have found the subject and the verb.
WHO = the subject
DOES WHAT = the verb
Variations of this formula might look like this:
 
What does what?
Who or what did what? 
Who or what will do what? 
Who is what? 		 (an object or activity as a subject, rather than a person)
(a verb in the past tense)
(a verb in the future tense)
(a linking verb)

Some sentences will have direct objects—someone or something on the receiving end of the action.  Then the formula will look like this:

WHO DOES WHAT TO WHOM?

How Does the Formula Work?

To figure out the subject, verb, and direct object (if there is one) of any sentence, follow these steps.

Sample sentence #1:  The clown with the red rubber nose just sprayed water on my grandmother.
 

STEP 1 Locate the action.  "Sprayed" shows an action.  "Sprayed" is the verb.
STEP 2 Ask this question: Who (or what) _ (verb)_? Who "sprayed"?
STEP 3 Answer from the sentence:  The clown sprayed.  "Clown" is the subject.
You just found the subject and the verb.  Now find the direct object, if there is one.
STEP 4 Ask this question: _(subject)_ _(verb)_ whom (or what)? The clown sprayed whom?
STEP 5 Answer from the sentence:  The clown sprayed my grandmother.  "Grandmother" is the direct object.

Sample sentence #2:  Walking to school day after day is ruining my shoes.
 

STEP 1 Locate the action.  Look for known helping verbs. "Walking" shows an action.  "Walking" is the verb.
STEP 2 Ask this question: Who (or what) _ (verb)_? Who "walking"?
STEP 3 Answer from the sentence:  Uh-oh.  No word in the sentence tells who is walking.  Maybe "walking" is not the verb.  Start over.
STEP 1 Locate the action.  Look for known helping verbs. "Is" is a helping verb.  "Ruining" shows action.  Let's try "is ruining" as the verb.
STEP 2 Ask this question: Who (or what) _ (verb)_? Who or what "is ruining"?
STEP 3 Answer from the sentence:  "Walking to school" is ruining.  "Walking to school" is the subject.  Weird, but it works!
Now find the direct object, if there is one.
STEP 4 Ask this question: _(subject)_ _(verb)_ whom (or what)? Walking to school is ruining what?
STEP 5 Answer from the sentence:  The shoes.  "Shoes" is the direct object.

 

The Bottom Line

WHO DOES WHAT TO WHOM?

As you answer the questions and fill in the blanks, if anything sounds weird, you may not have found the actual subject or verb.  With practice, you should be able to improve your skill at finding subjects, verbs, and direct objects.  Why is this an important skill to master?  So that later in the semester you will be able to correctly identify various structures within sentences.  Subject, verb, and direct object are basic terms that we will be using throughout the semester; so you need to be very sure that you know what they mean and how to identify them.
 

Check Your Answers

Click HERE to compare your answers to the exercises on pp. 217-19.
Click HERE to compare your answers to the exercises on pp. 303, 305 (bottom), and 308.
 

Top   ||   Desktop   ||  Schedule    ||   Notes