In the sentence 'Into the quiet library walked a young student with a heavy backpack,' what is the subject?
AInto the quiet library
Bthe quiet library
Ca young student with a heavy backpack
Dwalked
The verb is 'walked' — who walked? 'A young student with a heavy backpack.' That whole noun phrase is the subject, even though it appears after the verb in this inverted sentence. The phrase 'Into the quiet library' is a prepositional phrase that comes first but is not the subject. This tests the key misconception that the subject must be the first word or phrase.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
In the sentence 'The exhausted marathon runner finished the race in record time,' what is the predicate?
AThe exhausted marathon runner
Bfinished
Cfinished the race in record time
Dthe race in record time
The predicate includes the verb and everything that extends or completes it: 'finished the race in record time.' The predicate is not just the verb alone — it includes the object ('the race') and the modifier ('in record time'). The subject is 'The exhausted marathon runner' — that whole noun phrase.
Question 3 True / False
The subject of a sentence is generally the first word or the first noun in the sentence.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
This is the most common misconception about subjects. The subject is whoever or whatever performs the action (or is being described), which can appear anywhere in the sentence. In 'Into the room walked three strangers,' the subject is 'three strangers,' not 'room,' which comes first. Find the verb first, then ask who or what.
Question 4 True / False
In the sentence 'She gave her sister a beautiful gift,' the predicate is 'gave her sister a beautiful gift.'
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
The predicate is everything in the sentence except the subject. The subject is 'She'; everything else — 'gave her sister a beautiful gift' — is the predicate. The predicate includes the verb 'gave,' the indirect object 'her sister,' and the direct object 'a beautiful gift.' This illustrates that predicates are often much longer than just the verb.
Question 5 Short Answer
How can you reliably find the subject of any sentence, even one with an unusual word order?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Find the main verb first, then ask 'Who or what is performing this action (or being described)?' The answer to that question is the subject. This method works regardless of where the subject appears in the sentence, because it anchors the search to the verb rather than to word position.
Starting with the verb is the key move. Students who look for the subject by scanning for the first noun often pick up prepositional phrases or other non-subject elements. The verb-first strategy always works because every subject is logically tied to a verb — that relationship, not word order, is what defines a subject.