The subject is the principal part of a two-member sentence which is grammatically independent of the other parts of the sentence and on which the second principal part (the predicate) is grammatically dependent, i. e. in most cases it agrees with the subject in number and person.

The subject can denote a living being, a lifeless thing, or an idea.

The subject can be expressed by a single word or a group of words. Thus it can be expressed by:

#1. A noun in the common

The sulky waiter brought my tea. (Du Maurier)
Marcellus slowly turned his head. (Douglas)

Occasionally a noun in the possessive case is used as the subject of the sentence.

Mrs. Gummidge’s was a fretful disposition. (Dickens)
Oh, my dear Richard, Ada’s is a noble heart. (Dickens)

#2. A pronoun — personal, demonstrative, defining, indefinite, negative, possessive, interrogative.

After about an hour I heard Montgomery shouting my name. That set me thinking of my plan of action. (Wells)
All were clad in the same soft, and yet strong silky material. (Wells)
Everyone was silent for a minute. (Wells)
Nothing was said on either side for a minute or two afterwards. (Dickens)
Theirs is not a very comfortable lodging… (Dickens)
Who tore this book? (Twain)

The subject is often expressed by the indefinite pronoun one or the personal pronouns they, you, we, which refer not to any particular person or persons but to people in general.

These sentences generally correspond to the same kind of sentences in Russian, but sometimes they are rendered by impersonal sentences, as will be seen in the examples given below.

Yes, muttered Jon, life’s beastly short. One wants to live forever. (Galsworthy)
Д A day is like a page in a book, one cannot read it without commas and periods. (Heym)
They say he’s clever — they all think they’re clever. (Galsworthy)
Howard, you introduce every statement with “they say”. I want to know who is “they”. (Gow and D’Usseau)

They is used when the speaker is excluded, one when the speaker is included.

There are some things you can’t talk to anyone about. (Voynich)
It was good to be alive. Say what you like you couldn’t beat it. (Galsworthy)
Every pleasure is transitory. We can’t eat long. If we indulge in harmless fluids we get the dropsy, if in exciting liquids we get drunk. When I say “we”, my dear, I mean mankind in general. (Dickens)

#3. An Adjective

A substantivized adjective

The Privileged have seen that charming and instructive sight. (Galsworthy)
The wounded were taken good care of.

#4. Numeral

A numeral (cardinal or ordinal).

Of course, the two were quite unable to do anything. (Wells)
The first and fourth stood beside him in the water. (Wells)

#5. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase

To live is to work.
To be a rich man, Lieutenant, is not always roses and beauty. (Heym)
For him to come was impossible.

#6. A gerund, a gerundial phrase

Lying doesn’t go well with me. (Heym)
Winning the war is what counts. (Heym)
Annette’s being French might upset him a little. (Galsworthy)

#7. Any part of speech used as a subject

On is a preposition.
No is his usual reply to any request.

#8. Group of words

A group of words that is one part of the sentence, e. a syntactically indivisible group.

Yet at this very time their friend and defender is darkly groping towards the solution. (Fox)

Here the subject represents one person.

The needle and thread is lost.

Here the needle and the thread are treated as one thing.

This is not to be confused with homogeneous subjects where two persons or things are meant and consequently the predicate is in the plural.

Mr. Pickwick alone was silent and reserved. Doubt and distrust were exhibited in his countenance. (Dickens)

There are other kinds of syntactic units.

There were a number of carved high back chairs. (Dreiser)
There’s a lot of truth in that, of course. (London)

#9. A Quotation

“I shan’t be able to give you very much,” he had said. “Perhaps this what’s-his-name will provide the cocoa.” (Galsworthy)

When the pronoun it is used as the subject of a sentence it may represent a living being or a thing: then it is a notional subject.

Sometimes, however, it does not represent any living being or thing and performs a purely grammatical function: then it is a formal subject.

When it is a notional subject the pronoun it has the following meanings:

1. It stands for a definite thing or some abstract idea — the personal

The door opened. It was opened by a young girl of thirteen or fourteen.(Dickens)
If this is a liberty, it isn’t going to mean a thing. (Heym)

2. It points out some person or thing expressed by a predicative noun, or it refers to the thought contained in a preceding statement, thus having a demonstrative meaning — the demonstrative

It is John.
It was a large room with a great window. (Dickens)
Dick came home late, it provoked his father. (Lindsay)

Sometimes the pronoun it is a formal subject, i, it does not represent any person or thing.

Here we must distinguish:

1. Impersonal it;
2. Introductory or anticipatory it;
3. Emphatic it.

#1. Impersonal it is used:

• to denote natural phenomena (such as the state of the weather, ) or that which characterizes the environment. In such sentences the predicate is either a simple one, expressed by a verb denoting the state, of the weather, or a compound nominal one, with an adjective as predicative.

It often rains in autumn.
It is cold in winter.
It is stuffy in here.
It is delightfully quiet in the night.

The state of the weather can also be expressed by sentences in which the subject denoting the state of things is introduced by the construction there is. In such sentences the noun introduced by the construction there is is the subject.

There was a heavy frost last night.

There was a fine rain falling over the trees, the flowers, and the people sitting on the benches in the garden.

• to denote time and

It is five minutes past six.
It is morning already.
How far is it from your office to the bank? (Galsworthy)
It is a long way to the station.

#2. Introductory or Anticipatory it introduces the real subject

It’s no use disguising facts.

It was curious to observe that child.

Some grammarians treat this it as the real subject and the rest of the sentence as the predicate.

#3. Emphatic it is used for

It was Winifred who went up to him. (Galsworthy)
It was he who had brought back George to Amelia. (Thackeray)