What is the subject of this sentence?
Hi!
In the following sentence, what constitutes the subject? :
"My mother's favourite kid is Peter."
Is the noun phrase before is the subject, or is Peter the subject? If the sentence had been reversed ("Peter is my mother's favourite kid") it seems obvious to me that Peter is the subject and the noun phrase after is acts as a complement. But when written as above I get confused as to what really is the subject. Can anyone please explain?
Kind regards
Top answer
If you use the old sentence diagramming technique, or modern syntax structuring, the answer is still the same. The "subject" is a noun phrase. A sentence is divided into two parts: subject and predicate.
- If you use the old sentence diagramming technique, or modern syntax structuring, the answer is still the same.
- The "subject" is a noun phrase.
- A sentence is divided into two parts: subject and predicate.
- The syntax structure diagram, where the sentence is transformed into a tree structure, is clearer than the old-fashioned sentence diagramming where the main clause is on a line.
- You have two different sentences.
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If you use the old sentence diagramming technique, or modern syntax structuring, the answer is still the same. The "subject" is a noun phrase. A sentence is divided into two parts: subject and predicate. The syntax structure diagram, where the sentence is transformed into a tree structure, is clearer than the old-fashioned sentence diagramming where the main clause is on a line.
0Andgun87In the following sentence, what constitutes the subject? :"My mother's favourite kid is Peter."
The subject is My mother's favourite kid; "is" is a linking verb; Peter is a predicative complement, subject-oriented.
The modern grammar (CGEL) seems to exclude the notion of linking verb altogether and analyses the predicate is Pe
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