Subject and Verb study supplement
When looking for the subject and the verb, the first thing you must do is find the propositional phrase or phrases and cross them out:
Frequently used prepositions: about, above, across, after, along, along with, around, at, before, behind, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, into, like, near, next to, of, off, on, outside, over, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, without.
Prepositional phrases always end with a noun or a pronoun, which is the object of a preposition. A prepositional phrase must have a preposition and one object of the preposition. Propositional phrases can have more than one object, conjunctions, adjectives, and adverbs.
Examples of prepositional phrases: to Joe to the boys and girls.
If a verb comes after "to" it is an infinitive and not a prepositional phrase.
Examples of infinitive: to go, to play, to walk, etc
Verbs:
A verb can be an action verb, a linking verb, or a helping verb.
An action verb is an action: run, walk, sing.
A linking verb connects the subject to the subject complement, which describes or renames the subject.
More specifically, the subject complement will define the subject, name the subject, or tell the general state of the subject. The subject complement will be a noun, pronoun, or adjective.
General state (adjective): I am cold
Name (noun or pronoun): I am Joe define (noun or pronoun): I am a teacher.
In the above three cases, the linking verb is "am." The subject is "I." The subject compliments are "cold,
"Joe," and "teacher."
When the subject compliment is a noun it is called a "Predicate nominative." When it is an adjective it is called a "predicate adjective."

Linking verbs that are not action verbs: be [am, is, are, was, were, has been, are being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem.
Some words that can be used as action verbs or linking verbs: appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste, and turn.
Example of action: I feel the desk.
Example of linking: I feel tired.
A trick to figuring out if something is a linking verb is if you can substitute a state of being verb for the linking verb and the meaning is relatively similar, you have a linking verb.
For example.
I feel the desk. I am the desk. (The meaning is very different, and you have an action verb).
I feel sick. I am sick. (The meaning is very close, so you have a linking verb.)
There are six forms of verbs:
Present Form S-Form walk run lie (untruth) walks runs lies
Past Form walked ran lied
Past
Participle
Present
Participle have walked is walking have run is running have lied is lying
Infinitive lie (rest) lay (put) be, am, are have put ride rise see set (place) sing sit (be seated) speak swim take tear throw write lies lays is has puts rides rises sees sets sings sits speaks swims takes tears throws writes lay laid was, were had put rode rose saw set sang sat spoke swam took tore threw wrote have lain have laid have been have had have put have ridden is riding have risen have seen have set have sung have sat is lying is laying is being is having is putting is rising is seeing is setting is singing is sitting have spoken is speaking have swum have taken have torn is swimming is taking is tearing have thrown is throwing have written is writing to walk to run to lie to lie to lay to be to have to put to ride to rise to see to set to sing to sit to speak to swim to take to tear to throw to write

Notice that walk and lie (untruth) are regular verbs because you add "ed" to the end to make it a past from and past participle. The irregular verbs are only difficult and unpredictable in the past form and past participle. It is good to memorize the ones here that you don't know. Also, notice that "Be" is the most irregular verb because there are three present forms besides the S-form and two post forms. All the others have one of each form.
The s-form is used when the verb is third-person, present tense, and singular.
For the past and present participles to be the verb of the sentence, you must include all helping verbs.
Examples:
I have not been to school in a long time. ("to school" and "in a long time" are prepositional phrases. All prepositional phrases should be crossed out when finding the subject and the verb.) the verb is "have been" ("Not" is an adverb; "not" is not a verb)
I am going to the park. ("am going" is the verb of the sentence)
An infinitive can never be the verb of the sentence.
I had to go to school today. (had is the verb of the sentence; to go is an infinitive, so it cannot be the verb of the sentence.)
The subject is the person, place, thing, or idea--usually a noun--performing the verb or being linked to the subject compliment.
Example: John throws Cory the ball. The subject is John because John is performing the verb.
You can have a compound subject and/or a compound verb:
John and Mary went to the bank and then came home. (John, Mary are the subjects. Went, ran are the verbs).
Each independent clause (something that can stand alone as a sentence) has at least one subject and one verb:
John went to the store, and then his brother stopped by my house. (the subjects are "John" and
"brother," and the verbs are "went" and "stopped."
The subjects and verbs of the sentences can only be found in independent clauses, never in fragments or prepositional phrases:
Running as quickly as they could, the boy and the girl got away from the killer.
The subjects are "boy" and "girl," and the verb is "got." "Running" is not a verb because it is part of a phrase, not an independent clause.

The subject and the verb must agree in number (singular or plural)
The boy and the girl are here. (correct) ("Boy" and "girl" are the subjects and "are" is the linking verb.
The boy and the girl is here (incorrect)
Some tricky cases:
The singular indefinite pronouns are always singular:
Each, either, neither one everyone everybody everything anyone anybody anything someone somebody something no one nobody nothing
Example: Each of the students (studies, study) for the exam. "Each" is a singular subject, so the verb has to be singular: studies. (Be careful when the prepositional phrase comes between the subject and the verb.)
A good way to remember the singular indefinite pronouns is to remember: "Each, either, neither, all the ones, all the bodies, and all thing things."
When using "and" or "Both... and" to make a compound subject, the verb will be plural since you have more than one subject:
Both Jack and Jill (goes, go) up the hill. (The verb is the plural "go" since there are more than one subject).
When using "or," "nor," "either... or," and "neither... nor" to make a compound subject, the verb agrees with the subject closest to the verb.
Examples: Either Jack or his brothers (goes, go) up the hill. (Since "brothers" is closest to the verb and is plural, the verb must be plural: "go").
Neither his brothers nor Jack (goes, go) up the hill. (Since "Jack" is closest to the verb and is singular, the verb must be singular: "goes")
Remember to be able to tell the difference when "Either" and "Neither" are used as correlative conjunctions with "or" and "nor" and when "Either" and "Neither" are used as singular indefinite pronouns because the grammar rules for agreement are different.

Example: Neither of them (goes, go) up the hill. (when neither is the subject of the sentence it is always singular, so the verb must be singular: "goes.")
Also, remember that with is a preposition that must be crossed out, not a conjunction like "and."
Amy with her friends (dances, dance) at the party. (Amy is the subject and is singular, so the verb must be singular: "dances."
Amy and her friends (dances, dance) at the party. (The compound subject is "Amy" and "friends" so the verb must be plural: "dance.")
Usually the subject comes before the verb. Here are three cases when the subject may or may not come after the verb:
1. When a phrase, such as a prepositional phrase, comes before the independent clause:
In the jungle, the lions roar tonight (subject comes before the verb)
In the jungle, roar the lions tonight (subject comes after the verb)
2. When a sentence starts with "there" or "here."
There the people go. (the subject comes before the verb)
There go the people. ( the subject comes after the verb)
3. Questions
Where are you? ("You" is the subject, and "are" is the linking verb.)
Where have all the flowers gone ("Flowers" is the subject, and "have gone" is the verb.)