Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
Find the subject: The cups on the top shelf belong to Ana.
- Find the verb first. Ask: what happens, or what is? Belong.
- Then ask who or what belongs to Ana. The cups do.
- Shelf is part of on the top shelf, which only tells where the cups are. A word that comes after of, in, on, at, to, from or with is almost never the subject.
Answer: cups
Example 2
Find the verb: Before work, my neighbor walks her dog.
- Ask what happens. Someone walks.
- Who walks? My neighbor. That is the subject.
- Before work only tells when, and dog is what she walks.
Answer: walks
Where this is taught: Sentences: Start Here, Part 1: What a sentence needs
More practice: Quiz 31, Clauses · In your Kaplan book: Unit 1, Chapter 4, Lesson 1, “Simple Sentences”
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Tap your answer to each one, then press Check my answers at the bottom.Circle your answer to each one. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.