It's subject of sentence/usage.

Question

The https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/dog https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hurt its https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/paw.

No matter what they say about him, it's false.

Can it's stand alone as a sentence ?

The first example has two subject's and verb and it's (determiner) paw.

But the second has an introductory phrase and then a comma: leaving 'It's false' separate.

It's false alone feels like a command or statement. But it's paw feels like a fragment are these both equal grammatically and can stand alone.

BillJ · Accepted Answer

panda blue 483The dog hurt its paw. No matter what they say about him, it's false. Can it's stand alone as a sentence? The first example has two ~~subject's~~ subjects and verb and ~~it's~~ its (determiner) paw.

The first example has one subject ("the dog"). The noun phrase "its paw" is a noun phrase functioning as object of "hurt". "Its" is a genitive noun phrase function as determiner (note that no apostrophe is required).

panda blue 483But the second has an introductory phrase and then a comma: leaving 'It's false' separate. It's false alone feels like a command or statement. But it's paw feels like a fragment are these both equal grammatically and can stand alone.

Why should "its paw" be a fragment? It's a constituent (NP + determiner) functioning as direct object of "hurt". It cannot stand alone like a main clause can.

"It's false" could in principle stand alone, but here it's part of a larger construction. The presence of "no matter" indicates that this is an 'exhaustive' conditional construction. The element "no matter what they say about him" is an adjunct. The whole sentence is the matrix (main) clause. "No matter" is a noun phrase with the subordinate clause what they say about him as its complement.

It's subject of sentence/usage.

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