Basics of Grammar

Spotting the Main Subject and Verb in complex sentences:

Your ability to locate the main subject and verb is tested in sentence correction questions with ‘subject-verb agreement error’, one of the most common question types on the test; we’ll discuss it in Study Plan for Advance Level.

Every sentence must have a subject and a verb. Your first step to ace the sentence Correction section is to be able to identify these two parts of the sentence, because nearly one-fourth of the questions are going to test your knowledge of subjects or verbs. If another type of error does not immediately present itself to you, you must search out the subject and the verb.

As we discussed earlier, the subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that performs the action in the sentence. To identify the subject, it is easiest to first locate the verb:

Fatima’s skateboard flew through the air.

Verb: flew
What flew? Skateboard.

Additionally, many students might be tempted to select Fatima as the subject. Thankfully, though, Fatima was not flying through the air – the skateboard flew through the air. Skateboard is the subject of the sentence. Fatima, normally a noun, and confuse you to feel like a subject, but it’s not Fatima; it’s in fact Fatima’s which takes on the function of an adjective when the possessive is used. Fatima’s modifies skateboard. We’ll discuss these tiny things and mistakes later on in Study Plan for Advance Level.

Verbs appear in both dependent and independent clauses. However, the main verb is always in an independent clause.

Errors frequently happen when the subject becomes lost in the sentence, and the writer of the test will attempt to trick you into incorrectly identifying the subject. They may do this by using a complex sentence with multiple nouns or verbs:

Although her grade point average was falling, Falak’s GMAT score rose after taking a preparation course.

Verb: rose
What rose? Score

The novice student might select was falling as the main verb. However, was falling is located in a dependent clause. The main verb must be in an independent clause.

The sentence might also confuse you because there are so many noun-like words to pick from in finding subject. Remember, Falak’s is a possessive and thus an adjective, just as GMAT is an adjective, rather than a subject. The only true nouns in the sentence are average, score, and course. Score is in the independent clause and it performs the verb, rose, so score is the main subject.

To help identify the subject of a sentence, there is an important rule to remember:

The main subject of the sentence is never in prepositional phrases, in phrases or clauses separated by commas, or in dependent clauses.

Look at another example:

Even though they faced the obvious obstacles, veterinarians and oncologists administered chemotherapy to Bubba, a 154-pound Queensland grouper, at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

The first part of the sentence, even though they faced the obvious obstacles, is a dependent clause. It has a subject (they) and a verb (faced), but based on the rule that a sentence’s main subject cannot be in a dependent clause, we know that these are not the main subject and verb for the entire sentence.

Also, there are three prepositional phrases in the sentence (to Bubba, at the Shedd Aquarium and in Chicago), and we know that the subject cannot be in there, either. Finally, we can cross out the phrase in the center of the sentence because it is separated by commas (a 154-pound Queensland grouper). Using the rule for finding the main subject, you can begin to find the subject of more complex sentences by mentally crossing out the phrases and dependent clauses.

Even though they faced the obvious obstacles, veterinarians and oncologists administered chemotherapy to Bubba, a 154-pound Queensland grouper, at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

By crossing out the dependent clause and preposition phrase, the subject and verb become clear:

Verb: administered
Who administered? Veterinarians and oncologists

Veterinarians and oncologists is the compound subject. The remaining word, chemotherapy is the direct object.

While most sentences will have an easily-identifiable subject, complex questions may require you to cross out the phrases and clauses in order to locate the subject. Look at the sentence below:

Because the school board concentrated on English and mathematics as the fundamental cores of education, rather than supplementing the curriculum with a music program, many students from East Lake High School were robbed of an opportunity to apply for the Lake Country Scholarship, as it was awarded to those who excelled in orchestra.

Furthermore, some test takers might be able to pinpoint the subject immediately, but others will need to start slashing the phrases and dependent clauses. Start with the dependent clauses, as they are easy to spot for not making sense while reading it separate from other part of the sentence:

Because the school board concentrated on English and mathematics as the fundamental cores of education, rather than supplementing the curriculum with a music program, many students from East Lake High School were robbed of an opportunity to apply for the Lake Country Scholarship, as it was awarded to those who excelled in orchestra.

Then kill the prepositional phrases:

Because the school board concentrated on English and mathematics as the fundamental cores of education, rather than supplementing the curriculum with a music program, many students from East Lake High School were robbed of an opportunity to apply for the Lake Country Scholarship, as it was awarded to those who excelled in orchestra.

Finally remove any phrase separated by commas that may interrupt the flow of the sentence:

Because the school board concentrated on English and mathematics as the fundamental cores of education, rather than supplementing the curriculum with a music program, many students from East Lake High School were robbed of an opportunity to apply for the Lake Country Scholarship, as it was awarded to those who excelled in orchestra.

Now, put them all together:

Because the school board concentrated on English and mathematics as the fundamental cores of education, rather than supplementing the curriculum with a music program, many students from East Lake High School were robbed of an opportunity to apply for the Lake Country Scholarship, as it was awarded to those who excelled in orchestra.

The verb, were robbed, appears, and you do not even need to ask, “Who were robbed?” The only subject left is the subject of the sentence: students.

Finally, in actual exams you are not allowed to cross sentences like that, but as this is the learning stage, after becoming expert, you may easily spot and select the subject immediately while first look, even before reading the whole question.