English Grammar For Dummies. Woods Geraldine
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to find out what you want to know. The correct question is all important in the search for information, as all parents realize.
WRONG QUESTION FROM PARENT: What did you do last night?
TEENAGER’S ANSWER: Nothing.
RIGHT QUESTION FROM PARENT: When you came in at 2 a.m., were you hoping that I’d ignore the fact that you went to the Carleton Club?
TEENAGER’S ANSWER: I didn’t go to the Carleton Club! I went to the mall.
PARENT: Aha! You went out on a school night. You’re grounded.
In Chapter 2, I explain that the first question to ask is not “Is this going to be on the test?” but “What’s the verb?” (To find the verb, ask what’s happening? or what is?) After you uncover the verb, put “who” or “what” in front of it to form a question. The answer is the subject.
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Check out this example: Jack polishes his dives during hours of practice.
1. Pop the question: What’s happening? Answer: polishes. Polishes is the verb.
2. Pop the question: Who or what polishes? Answer: Jack polishes. Jack is the subject.
Ready for another?
The pool has been closed by the Health Department.
1. Pop the question: What’s happening? Answer: has been closed. Has been closed is the verb.
2. Pop the question: Who or what has been closed? Answer: pool. Pool is the subject.
Roger will soon be smiling because of all the treasure in his ship.
Answer: The verb is will be smiling and the subject is Roger. Try one more. Identify the subject and verb.
No matter what the weather, Roger never even considers wearing a hat.
Answer: The verb is considers and the subject is Roger.
What’s a Nice Subject Like You Doing in a Place Like This? Unusual Word Order
Most of the sentences you encounter are in the normal subject–verb order, which is (surprise!) subject–verb. In other words, the subject usually comes before the verb. Not every sentence follows that order, though most do. Sometimes a subject hides out at the end of the sentence or in some other weird place. (Hey, even a subject needs a change of scenery sometime.)
If you pop the question and answer it according to the meaning of the sentence – not according to the word order – you’ll be fine. The key is to put the subject questions (who? what?) in front of the verb. Then think about what the sentence is actually saying and answer the questions. Like magic, your subject will then appear.
Try this one:
Up the avenue and around the park trudged Godzilla.
1. Pop the question: What’s happening? What is? Answer: trudged. Trudged is the verb.
2. Pop the question: Who trudged? What trudged? Answer: Godzilla. Godzilla is the subject. (I’ll let you decide whether Godzilla is a who or a what.)
If you were answering by word order, you’d say park. But the park did not trudge; Godzilla trudged. Pay attention to meaning, not to placement in the sentence, and you can’t go wrong.
A. Alas, what a sadly inadequate grammarian am I.
B. Across the river and through the woods to the grammarian’s house go Ella and Larry.
Answers: In sentence A, am is the verb and I is the subject. In sentence B, the verb is go and the subjects are Ella and Larry.
ME, MYSELF, AND I
In formal speech and writing, you can use I as a subject, but not me or myself.
Wrong: Bill and me are going to rob that bank. Bill and myself will soon be in jail.
Right: Bill and I are going to rob that bank. Bill and I will soon be in jail.
Me doesn’t perform actions; it receives actions. To put this rule another way: Me is an object of some action or form of attention. He gave the stolen money to me. (Check Chapter 8 for more on the difference between I and me.)
Myself is appropriate only for actions that double back on the person performing the action: I told myself not to be such a nerd! Myself may also be used for emphasis (though some grammarians object to the repetition), along with the word I: I myself will disclose the story to the tabloid offering the most bucks.
In informal conversation, you can get away with pairing myself or me with another subject. Between friends, you may hear “Me and Bob have a getaway plan” or “Bob and myself won’t get caught.” No problem there, at least no problem with language. Just don’t rob the bank!
Find That Subject! Detecting You-Understood
“Sit still.”
“Eat your vegetables.”
“Clean your room.”
What do these sentences have in common? Yes, they’re all nagging comments you’ve heard all your life. More importantly, they’re all commands. The verbs give orders: sit, eat, clean. So where’s the subject in these sentences?
If you pop the question, here’s what happens:
1. Pop the question: What’s happening? What is? Answer: sit, eat, clean.
2. Pop the question: Who sit, eat, clean? Answer: Uh …
The second question appears to have no answer, but appearances can be deceiving. The answer is you. You sit still. You eat your vegetables. You clean your room. What’s that you say? You is not in the sentence? True. You is not written, but it’s implied. And when your mom says, “Eat your vegetables,” you understand that she means you. So grammarians say that the subject is you-understood. The subject is you, even though you isn’t in the sentence and even though you don’t intend to eat any of those lima beans your mom overcooked.
A. Ella, dancing the cha-cha, forgot to watch her feet.
B. Stop, Ella!
C. Over the bandleader and across five violin stands fell Ella.
Answers: