Subject of the sentence.

Question

To be a nurse was her ambition.

I'm reading a book that says the subject of the sentence is "To be a nurse". Specifically a noun phrase acting as a subject. Is this correct?

Why is it not "Her ambition" ? Sorta looks like a transposed sentence to me.

Philip · Accepted Answer

Was is the verb, and it is similar to =. Yes, the subject and what we call the predicate nominative can be reversed. "Predicate nominative" simply means a repetition of the subject in the predicate part of the sentence. ( Predicate = the main verb and everything that follows.)
My father is a lawyer. (subject/verb/predicate nominative) My father is very intelligent. (subject/verb/predicate adjective)

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for your reply. Just to clarify, so either way is correct?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousThank you for your reply. Just to clarify, so either way is correct?

Yes. The subject and complement can be reversed. The subject always comes before the verb.

Her ambition was to be a nurse. (Subject = ambition)
To be a nurse was her ambition. (Subject = "to be a nurse")

Anonymous · Answer

You say the subject always comes before the verb. I read some other sources like Essential English Grammar by Philip Gucker which says the predicate can sometimes come first (for emphasis or variety) and this is called transposed order.

One example from the book:

The winning run came across the plate. (normal order)
Across the plate came the winning run. (transposed order)

All this is becoming a tad bit confusing for me.

Philip · Answer

AnonymousAcross the plate came the winning run. (transposed order)

This can be attributed to a desire for emphasis or poetic license.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousAll this is becoming a tad bit confusing for me.

For equative sentences we say the expression before the verb is the subject, just by convention. This has to do with the syntax of the sentence.

Nevertheless, the usual order in equative sentences is to put the "identified" first and to put the "identifier" last. This has to do with the semantics of the sentence.

Her ambition was to be a nurse.

The usual order can be reversed:

To be a nurse was her ambition.

but then, by convention, the subject changes, and the complement changes.

Anonymous-
The winning run came across the plate. (normal order)
Across the plate came the winning run. (transposed order)

This is not an equative sentence, so the conventions that apply for equative sentences don't apply.

CJ

RandomGuy · Answer

AnonymousI'm reading a book that says the subject of the sentence is "To be a nurse". Specifically a noun phrase acting as a subject. Is this correct?

Yes, except that it’s not a noun phrase but an infinitival clause.

AnonymousWhy is it not "her ambition"?

There are two pieces of evidence for this.

1. It is possible to invert to be a nurse with the auxiliary verb. Thus the interrogative version of the clause is Was to be a nurse her ambition? If you apply this test to Across the plate came the winning run, on the other hand, you get Did the winning run come across the plate?, not *Did across the plate come the winning run?

2. To be a nurse can be extraposed, so that it appears at the end of the sentence and the subject position is occupied by a dummy pronoun: It was her ambition to be a nurse. This version is much more common.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi.

What about the subject in famous Hamlet's line: To be, or not to be, that is the question ? Is it the pronoun "that" or the verb phrase "To be, or not to be," ?

Thank you.

RandomGuy · Answer

AnonymousWhat about the subject in famous Hamlet's line: To be, or not to be, that is the question ?

that

To be or not to be is just a supplement. It’s not part of the main clause at all.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, AG, for your useful reply.

Subject of the sentence.

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