Spoonful #3: SUBJECT

Honey in my reading chair.

SUBJECT has many definitions. Here are just two: 

• Course of study(noun):
  English is a SUBJECT you're required to take in school.​
  
  
• Forced to endure (verb): 
  Pray you'll never be SUBJECTED to a 5-hour lecture on the sleeping habits of fire ants.

In grammar, SUBJECT refers to the main topic or focus of every sentence. Its most important role is to instruct the VERB. If the SUBJECT is SINGULAR, the VERB must be SINGULAR. If the SUBJECT is PLURAL, the VERB must be PLURAL. This relationship is known as SUBJECT-VERB MATCHING. Sounds easy peasy? It's not, especially as sentences become increasingly complex. But don't fret: I'll cover this SUBJECT one spoonful at a time. 

In order to properly match SUBJECTS and VERBS, the first step is to determine whether the SUBJECT is SINGULAR or PLURAL.  
  
 SINGULAR SUBJECTS with explanations:

• Honey - Honey is my sweet, beautiful, affectionate dog. Not that I'm biased or anything!
• Honey or Daisy - one or the other, but not both (Either/Or)
• Honey nor Daisy - not one or the other (Neither/Nor)
• the other dogs or Honey - With OR, if the 2nd noun is singular, the subject is singular. 
• Memorial Hall Library - my second home
• table - one table
• I, you, he, she, it - popular singular subject pronouns

PLURAL SUBJECTS with explanations:

• the other dogs - two or more dogs
• libraries - two or more libraries, possibly a consortium
• birds - more than one bird, possibly a flock
• We, they - popular plural subject pronouns
• Honey and Daisy - When AND connects two or more subjects, assume the subject is plural.
• Honey or the other dogs - Since "the other dogs" is plural and listed second, the subject is now treated as plural. 
• The Coopers and Michael - With AND, it doesn't matter if the individual subjects are singular or plural. AND = PLURAL. 

Special Note: English grammar has exceptions to every rule. If you order a peanut butter AND jelly sandwich, you'll get ONE sandwich. 
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I hope you enjoyed this spoonful! Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or share this with your friends. 

Sincerely,
Laura Fineberg Cooper

www.laurafcooper.com
@spoonfulgrammar

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