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Structural Types of the Subject
Structurally the subject falls into four types: simple, phrasal, complex and clausal.
1. The simple subject is expressed by a single word-form:
Spring has come at last.
Smoking is bad for your health.
To live is to struggle.
2. The phrasal subject is expressed by any of the phrases mentioned above (nominal phrases, infinitive phrases, gerundial phrases):
Building houses becomes more difficult.
To ask him again was impossible.
The blue of the sky deepened visibly.
3. The complex subject is expressed by different predicative complexes:
a) For-to-infinitive constructions:
For him to earn bread was a problem.
b) Gerundial constructions:
My meeting him again was a surprise.
4. The clausal subject is expressed by a subject clause:
Who has done this is still to be found.
Where he lives is unknown to me.
Note: A noun in the genitive case can be the subject. This may occur when a noun denotes someone's place of business or residence:
The grocer’s was full.
The hairdresser’s is at a stone’s throw away.
It may also be the result of an ellipsis:
Jim’s was a narrow escape (Jim’s escape was a narrow one). This type of the subject is rather emphatic.
As the subject is the grammatical centre of the sentence which determines the form of the predicate it would be possible to assume that the sentence is unimaginable without the subject. However, practice proves that sentences without the subject exist. These are mainly imperative sentences, one-member sentences, two-member elliptical sentences:
Sit down!
Silence. Winter.
Looks like rain.
“Where is John?” ― “Went to Paris.”
According to the classification suggested by Professor Smirnitsky there exist the following types of the subject.
a) definite personal
b) indefinite personal
c) impersonal
Definite personal subject denotes a concrete person or a non-person and can be expressed by nouns, pronouns, numerals, infinitives, gerunds, predicative complexes, clauses:
To marry Fleur would be to hit his mother in the face.
She had never been afraid to experiment.
What you say is a good piece of advice.
Indefinite Personal subject may denote:
1. a person in broad sense; in this case the subject is expressed by a definite pronoun one or a personal pronoun you:
When one has a fever, one’s ideas become grotesque and fanciful.
2. more or less definite group of persons; in this case the subject is expressed by personal pronouns we and they:
They say this is a difficult place to work.
Impersonal subject is used in sentences describing various states of nature or things in general, or characteristics of the environment. It also denotes time, distance and other measurements:
It is spring.
It is cold today.
It seems that he is not frank with us.
“IT” and “THERE” as Subjects
NOTIONAL “IT”
| PERSONAL | DEMONSTRATIVE |
| It stands for a thing mentioned in the previous context: a ) The door opened. It was opened by a young girl of ten. b) The postman broughtthe letter.It is on the table. | It points out some person or thing expressed by a predicative noun, or it may refer to the thought contained in a preceding statement, thus having a demonstrative meaning: a) It is John. b)It was a large room with a great window. It = This c) Mary returned home late. It irritated his mother. |
FORMAL SUBJECTS ‘’IT” AND “THERE”
| IMPERSONAL | EMPHATIC | INTRODUCTORY | |
| IT | IT | IT | THERE |
| a) Natural phenomena, characteristics of the environment. It was October, drizzling and dark. b) Time It was nine o’clock. c) Distance It is a long way to Ireland. d) State of things in general “Itis all over, Mrs. Thingummy!” said the surgeon. Note: 1) Here belong sentences with the predicate expressed by the noun time followed by the Infinitive: It was high time to take the departure. 2) Sentences with the predicate expressed by the verbs: to seem, to appear, to turn out, followed by a clause: It seemed that he didn’t know the place (state of affairs). 3) Sentences with predicative adjectives preceded by too and followed by an Infinitive: Itwas too late to start (time). | Structures with emphatic it are used to give any part of the sentence more importance. The structure of such sentences is as follows: It + is/was + emphasized part of the sentence + who/that + the rest of the sentence: Itis they who give wisdom and understanding. Itis the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. Note: The predicate agrees with the emphasized part not with who: It is I who am laughed at. It is they who are losing a game. It is you who are wrong. | It is difficult to translate this article. To translate this article is difficult It is strangethat he didn’t come. That he didn’t come is strange. It is awfully hard work doing nothing. It is no good going there so early. It is no use crying over spilt milk. Doing nothing is awfully hard work. | There introduces the notional subject expressed by: a) noun: There was silence for a moment. There is a time for all things. b) pronouns (some, any, somebody, no one, anything): There wasnobody in the room. There isnothingnew under the sun. c) gerund, gerundial phrase: There isno smoking here. d) clause: First,there is what we might call a pattern. Note: 1) There is used with the verb to be to talk about something that exists. It also precedes the following group of verbs: to remain, to exist, to live, to come, to go, to appear, etc. 2) There can be found in the following idiomatic expressions: There’s no point / There’s no sense +in + Gerund/ Gerundial Complex: There's no sense in your doing this There’s no need + Infinitive/ For-to-Infinitive Construction: There is no need to phone him. |
Anumber of common expressions include It is no... or There is no.... Study the following examples:
| It is no secret that the President wants to have a second term. It is no surprise that his latest production was a success. It is no wonder Dad felt angry. It is no use telling me this. It is no good getting so annoyed. It was no coincidence that they left the party at the same time. It is no longer necessary to have a visa to visit this country. | There is no alternative but to ask her to leave. There is no denying that he is a a very good footballer. There is no hope of getting money for the research. There is no need to explain how it works. There is no point in buying an expensive computer. There is no question of agreeing to his demands. There is no reason to be pessimistic. There is no chance of meeting him. |
It... patterns are used with the following verbs: amaze, annoy, bother, frighten, please, surprise, appear, follow, happen, seem. Such sentences have the following structure: It+Verb+(Object) + that-clause:
It surprised me that they didn’t come to any agreement.
It worried me that he drove so fast.
Some verbs are commonly used with an it...pattern when they are in the passive: accept, agree, believe, decide, expect, intend, plan, think, under s tand:
It is believed that a horseshoe brings good luck.
It is planned that they will come tomorrow.
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