Subjects and modifying clauses

Now that we’ve reviewed parts of speech and punctuation, we’re going to pull all that information together and see how it works in sentences. Understanding sentence structure is an essential skill for the Praxis Writing Core.

Subjects

Definitions

Subject

The word or phrase (usually a noun or pronoun) that the sentence is about; it tells who or what performs the action or is being described.

The subject is usually a noun or pronoun, but it can also be a gerund (an -ing verb used as a noun), formed by adding -ing to the end of a verb:

Example:

Running was her main form of exercise.

Here, the addition of “-ing” to the verb “run” creates a gerund that is then used as the subject of the sentence.

However, many sentences include multiple nouns. Our sample sentence contains three:

Running was her main form of exercise.

When a sentence contains multiple nouns, ask yourself:

• Which noun or pronoun is performing the action or being described in the sentence?
• Does the noun in question come before the verb or after it?
• Is the noun part of the main clause, or is it in a modifying clause?
• Is the noun part of a prepositional phrase?

Let’s take a more detailed look.

Word order

The standard order of an English sentence is subject-verb-object. This means that the subject usually comes before the verb and, in an active sentence, is the noun or pronoun performing the action.

Example:

My neighbor planted hostas in his front yard.

Here, the subject, neighbor, performed the action of planting.

Some sentences, like questions, have inverted word order in which the verb comes before the subject:

Did you go to the store?

Formal phrasing and some expressions also place the verb before the subject.

Never did I think you were sneaky enough to plan a surprise party.

When a sentence has inverted word order, switch it around in your head:

You did go to the store(?).

I never did think you were sneaky enough to plan a surprise party.

Now the subject is easy to spot. In the first sentence, it is you because the speaker is asking whether you performed the action of going to the store.

I is the subject of the second sentence: I never did think.

Prepositional phrases

Definitions

Prepositional phrase

A phrase made up of a preposition and its object.

Prepositional phrases identify the relationships between objects and ideas. They act as modifiers, adding detail about where, when, how, or which one. Whatever a phrase contributes to the meaning, the noun inside it (the object of the preposition) is never the subject of the sentence.

Examples

against the wind	across the room	under the bed
down the hall	by the book	over the top
inside the refrigerator	beneath your feet	toward the finish line

Example:

Leo sat.

This is a complete, grammatically correct sentence, but it is less informative than it could be.

Leo sat on a chair.

The prepositional phrase on a chair adds some detail, but don’t stop there. You can say even more.

Leo sat on a chair in the corner of the room as his wet clothes dripped on the floor.

This version contains many nouns: Leo, chair, corner, room, clothes, and floor. However, chair, corner, room, and floor are all in prepositional phrases, and clothes belongs to the dependent clause as his wet clothes dripped on the floor. That leaves Leo as the only noun in the main clause, so Leo is the subject of the sentence.

Prepositional phrases can occur anywhere in a sentence. Eliminate them when you are looking for the subject of a sentence. This matters most when choosing a verb: in The box of old letters (is/are) in the attic, the subject is box, not letters, so the correct verb is is. Subject-verb agreement is covered fully in the next chapter, Agreement and parallel structure.

Interrupting clauses

A group of words set off by commas between the subject and verb also can’t be the subject. For example, in Andrea, who had been apartment hunting all day, knew…, the phrase who had been apartment hunting all day describes Andrea but sits outside the main clause. Cover up a clause set off by commas like this the same way you’d cover up a prepositional phrase. Clauses that begin with words like who, which, or that are called relative clauses, and you’ll see them covered in more depth in a later chapter.

Practice question

Andrea, who had been apartment hunting all day, knew that she could never share space with Ernie after he explained that he kept all of his dirty dishes in a drawer and only washed them once a week.

Identify the subject of the sentence.

a. Andrea
b. Ernie
c. dishes
d. apartment
e. hunting

Correct answer:

Introductory phrases and clauses

Definitions

Introductory phrase or clause

A word, phrase, or clause that appears before the main clause of a sentence.

Some introductory elements are a single word, but others are long phrases or clauses that contain nonessential information or strings of prepositional phrases. Use a comma after an introductory clause or a long introductory phrase. After a short introductory phrase (about four words or fewer), the comma is optional, but it’s never wrong, and it helps when the sentence would otherwise be misread.

When an introductory phrase consists of prepositional phrases, do not put commas between them. The only comma you need goes after the last phrase in the series.

Practice question

Under the tree on a patchwork quilt with stains from previous excursions Meagan, Mikey, and Zoe feasted on peanut butter sandwiches and watermelon.

Select the correct version of the sentence.

a. NO CHANGE

b. Under the tree on a patchwork quilt with stains from previous excursions, Meagan, Mikey, and Zoe feasted on peanut butter sandwiches and watermelon.

c. Under the tree, on a patchwork quilt with stains from previous excursions, Meagan, Mikey, and Zoe feasted on peanut butter sandwiches and watermelon.

d. Under the tree on a patchwork quilt with stains from previous excursions, Meagan, Mikey, and Zoe, feasted on peanut butter sandwiches and watermelon.

e. Under the tree on a patchwork quilt, with stains from previous excursions, Meagan, Mikey, and Zoe feasted on peanut butter sandwiches and watermelon.

Correct answer:

Complete sentences, fragments, and run-ons

A complete sentence has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought, so it contains at least one main clause. (A command such as Close the door is complete because its subject, you, is understood.) A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone, as the Conjunctions chapter explains.

Definitions

Sentence fragment

A group of words punctuated as a sentence that has no main clause. It may lack a subject or a verb, or it may be a dependent clause standing alone.

Fused sentence (run-on)

Two main clauses run together with nothing between them.

Comma splice

Two main clauses joined by only a comma.

FRAGMENT (dependent clause): Although the museum closes at five.
FRAGMENT (no verb): The tall man in the red jacket.
FUSED: The printer jammed nobody could fix it.
COMMA SPLICE: The printer jammed, nobody could fix it.

Fix a fragment by joining it to a main clause or by completing it: Although the museum closes at five, we can still see the dinosaurs. Fix a fused sentence or a comma splice in any of four ways:

• Period: The printer jammed. Nobody could fix it.
• Semicolon: The printer jammed; nobody could fix it.
• Comma and a coordinating conjunction: The printer jammed, and nobody could fix it.
• Make one clause dependent: When the printer jammed, nobody could fix it.

The comma rules these fixes use are in Commas + FANBOYS and lists (a comma and a coordinating conjunction between main clauses) and Commas and subordinate clauses (a comma after an introductory clause). Semicolons are in End Punctuation.