Doubt in sentence

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Dear all,Sometimes subject and verb agreement have been a bit confusion for me. And at times I find it difficult to identify the real subject of certain sentences. Please see the following sentences which I find difficult to identify the subject and also confusing me to arrange the subject and verb agreement correctly. I think that this may be the natural confusion of a non native speaker. I have taken the following sentences from a grammar book. I would like to know whether the grammar book is correct.According to me, the killer of the boys in both cities is probably hiding in New York.(Grammar book says here "killer" is the subject).Meteors and meteorites slamming into the Earth worries John; he tries to remain under the protective cover of this roof as much as possible. (In this sentence grammar book says "slamming" is the subject).That George Orwell was one of the most talented writers is an understatement to those who are really familiar with the field of literature. ( Here that book says "understatement" is the subject).Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

cat navy 425According to me, the killer of the boys in both cities is probably hiding in New York.(Grammar book says here "killer" is the subject).

Correct.

The key to finding the subject here is to rule out the prepositional phrases.

[According to me,] the killer [ of the boys ] [ in both cities ] is probably hiding [ in New York].

The prepositional phrases are: according to me, of the boys, in both cities.

The only phrase that is left is "the killer"

The verb is "is hiding"

The core of the sentence is: " The killer is hiding. " There is no object. "Hide" is intransitive here.

cat navy 425Meteors and meteorites slamming into the Earth worries John; he tries to remain under the protective cover of this roof as much as possible.

The grammar book is correct, but some more modern grammarians would say that the whole non-finite clause "Meteors and meteorites slamming into the Earth" is the subject.

The present participle of a verb can be used as a noun. Traditional grammars called this a gerund.

In modern grammars, the entire structure is called a gerund-participial clause. In this particular example, the non-finite verb is the present participle of the verb "slam". It has a subject (meteors and meteorites) and an adverbial (into the Earth).

The easiest way to find the subject is to convert the sentence into a what-question.

What worries John? The answer is the subject of the verb "worries."

cat navy 425That George Orwell was one of the most talented writers is an understatement to those who are really familiar with the field of literature. ( Here that book says "understatement" is the subject).

I disagree with your text.

The content clause "That George Orwell was one of the most talented writers" is the subject of the verb "is."

You can read more about content clauses (aka noun clauses) here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_clause

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