We know that a sentence is a group of words that express a complete thought. We also know that a sentence is divided into two main parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is what we talk about, and the predicate is what we say about the subject. Example: The horse (subject) runs very fast (predicate).
The simple subject is the most important word in the complete subject. For example, in the sentence below, the complete subject is written in green letters and the simple subject is written in green letters and underlined:
The horse runs very quickly.
So we know what is the subject and predicate of a sentence; and we know how to pick out the simple subject from the complete subject of a sentence. But what is a compound subject?
Let’s look at this sentence one more time:
The horse runs very quickly.
In the sentence above, the subject is in green, and the simple subject is in green underlined letters. How many simple subjects does the sentence have? One. What is the simple subject? Horse. Let’s change the sentence a little bit:
The horse and donkey run very fast. Once again, the subject of the sentence is in green, but this time, two words are underlined. The sentence now has TWO simple subjects. When a sentence has two or more simple subjects, it is said to have a compound subject.
In the sentences below, the subject is written in green letters and the simple subjects are underlined. ALL of the sentences below have compound subjects.
Jack and Jill went up the hill.
Jim and his father went to cut wood.
Neither the boy nor his friend are going to school today.
Either Mary or Jane will take part in the play tomorrow.
Apple and grapes are wonderful fruits.
More on the sentence:
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Article Location: PatrickCarpen.com >> English >> English Language >> Grammar >> The Sentence
Keywords: the sentence, compound subject, subject of a sentence, parts of the sentence
