Tips for Teaching Grammar

Subjects: Finding the Subject by Using Questions

Students can find the subject phrase of most sentences easily by making the statement into a question. They can add a questioning tag phrase (such as isn't it?), or make the statement a question by moving a verb (and/or a form of do) up front.

1. Jim and Sue can dance the tango.

Jim and Sue can dance the tango, can't they?

Can Jim and Sue dance the tango?

In tag questions, the last word almost always refers to the subject. In verb-first questions, the subject appears just after the moved verb or the added do.

2. Tom ate some bad spaghetti and had a stomachache all day.

Tom ate some bad spaghetti and had a stomachache all day, didn't he?

Did Tom eat some bad spaghetti and have a stomachache all day?

3. Whether Sam likes it or not, Janet should telephone David again.

Whether Sam likes it or not, Janet should telephone David again, shouldn't she?

Whether Sam likes it or not, should Janet telephone David again?

Exceptions: For most sentences, either type of question will uncover the subject. Students can use the type of question that comes to mind the most easily. The exceptions are a few kinds of sentences for which one type of question but not the other is productive. Of these, students are most likely to write one like this:

4. I believe that a good education makes a big difference in life.

The most likely tag question is "I believe that a good education makes a big difference in life, doesn't it?" This question doesn't produce the main subject, I. The reason that it does not produce I is that speakers would not normally assert a belief and then ask for confirmation of it with "don't I." But the verb-first form of the question reliably shows the I as subject.

Do I believe that a good education makes a big difference in life?

Adopted by Brock Haussamen from Rei Noguchi's Grammar and the Teaching of Writing, NCTE, 1991. Used with the permission of the author.