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Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects: Definitions

This document defines nouns, verbs, and subjects. It states that a noun is a person, place, thing or idea, and can be a common or proper noun. A verb shows an action, feeling, or state of being. The subject is the noun or pronoun that performs the verb. It provides examples of finding the subject and verb in sentences. It also notes that sentences can have multiple subjects and verbs.

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56 views5 pages

Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects: Definitions

This document defines nouns, verbs, and subjects. It states that a noun is a person, place, thing or idea, and can be a common or proper noun. A verb shows an action, feeling, or state of being. The subject is the noun or pronoun that performs the verb. It provides examples of finding the subject and verb in sentences. It also notes that sentences can have multiple subjects and verbs.

Uploaded by

Elma Nabella
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Finding Nouns, Verbs,

and Subjects

Definitions

 A noun is a word or set of words for a person, place, thing, or idea. A noun of more
than one word (tennis court, gas station) is called a compound noun.

There are common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are words for a general class
of people, places, things, and ideas (man, city, award, honesty). They are not capitalized.
Proper nouns are always capitalized. They name specific people, places, and things (Joe,
Chicago, Academy Award).

For more on nouns, see Chapter Two, "Apostrophes," Rules 2a through 2e.

 A verb is a word or set of words that shows action (runs, is going, has been painting);
feeling (loves, envies); or state of being (am, are, is, have been, was, seem).

Examples:
He ran around the block.
I like my friend.
They seem friendly.

State-of-being verbs are called linking verbs. They include all forms of the verb to be, plus
such words as look, feel, appear, act, go, followed by an adjective. (See the "Adjectives and
Adverbs" section later in this chapter.)

Examples:
You look happy.
We feel fine.
He went ballistic.

Verbs often consist of more than one word. For instance, had been breaking down is a four-
word verb. It has a two-word main verb, breaking down (also called a phrasal verb), and two
helping verbs (had and been). Helping verbs are so named because they help clarify the
intended meaning.

Many verbs can function as helping verbs, including is, shall, must, do, has, can, keep, get,
start, help, etc.

 A subject is the noun, pronoun (see the "Pronouns" section later in this chapter), or
set of words that performs the verb.

Examples:
The woman hurried.
Woman is the subject.
She was late.
She is the subject.
Shakespeare in Love won an Academy Award.
Shakespeare in Love is the subject.

Rule 1. To find the subject and verb, always find the verb first. Then ask who or what
performed the verb.

Examples:
The jet engine passed inspection.
Passed is the verb. Who or what passed? The engine, so engine is the subject. (If you
included the word jet as the subject, lightning will not strike you. But technically, jet is an
adjective here and is part of what is known as the complete subject.)
From the ceiling hung the chandelier.
The verb is hung. Now, if you think ceiling is the subject, slow down. Ask who or what hung.
The answer is the chandelier, not the ceiling. Therefore, chandelier is the subject.

Rule 2. Sentences can have more than one subject and more than one verb.

Examples:
I like cake, and he likes ice cream. (Two subjects and two verbs)
He and I like cake. (Two subjects and one verb)
She lifts weights and jogs daily. (One subject and two verbs)

Rule 3. If a verb follows to, it is called an infinitive, and it is not the main verb. You will find
the main verb either before or after the infinitive.

Examples:
He is trying to leave.
To leave is an infinitive; the main verb is trying.
To leave was his wish.
Adjective suffixes: Noun or verb + suffix
Rating: 3.9/5 (141 votes cast)

Suffixes change word class, e.g. from verb to noun or noun to adjective, but they can also
change meaning (see sections B and C below).

Noun or verb + suffix

Noun or Verb Suffix Adjectives

danger, fame -ous dangerous, famous (=


well-known)

music, politics industry, -al musical, political,


economics industrial, economical
(= saves you money)

cloud, fog, sun, dirt -y cloudy, foggy, sunny,


dirty (not clean)

attract, create -ive attractive (= pretty, nice


to look at); creative (=
ableto produce new
ideas; with imagination)

Note: Sometimes there is a spelling change. Here are common examples:

double the consonant,

 sun/sunny,
 fog/foggy

leave out the final ‘e’,

 create/creative,
 fame/famous

leave out the final’s’ before ‘al’,

 politics/political;
 economics/economical
change ‘y’ to ‘i’ before ‘al’,

 industry/industrial

-able /abl/

This suffix (also -ible in some words) is used to form many adjectives from nouns or verbs:

 enjoyable
 comfortable
 knowledgeable (= knows a lot)
 suitable (= right/correct for a particular situation)

Quite often, -able (and -ible) has the meaning ‘can be done’.

 Something that is washable ‘can be washed’.


 drinkable
 comprehensible (= can be comprehended or understood)
 reliable (= can be relied on or trusted, e.g. a car or other machine that never goes
wrong or breaks down).

Words ending -able quite often express the opposite meaning by adding the prefix un-:

 undrinkable
 unreliable
 unbreakable (= cannot be broken)
 unsuitable
 uncomfortable

Words ending –ible add the prefix in-:

 incomprehensible
 inflexible (somebody who is inflexible has a fixed idea about something and cannot
change quickly or easily; an inflexible timetable cannot be changed easily)
 inedible (= cannot be eaten).

-ful and -less

The suffix -ful often means ‘full of + the meaning of the adjective:

 careful, you are full of care


 if you are helpful you are full of help.
 painful (= hurts a lot)
 useful
 thoughtful (= someone who is thoughtful is kind and always thinks about others; a
thoughtful action shows care for others)

The suffix -less means ‘without’ + the meaning of the adjective:

 if you are careless, you do something ‘without care’.


 painless, useless (= has no use or function) thoughtless, jobless and homeless (= with
nowhere to live)

Note: You can see that -ful and -less are often used with the same words to form opposites.
This is not always true: a person with a home is NOT homcful.

Noun: a word that refers to a person, place, thing, event,


substance or quality e.g.'nurse', 'cat', 'party', 'oil' and 'poverty'.
Verb: a word or phrase that describes an action, condition or
experience e.g. 'run', 'look' and 'feel'.

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