What is the subject of a sentence?
When you learn a new language, specially when you get to a certain level, it's helpful to start to "analyse" the sentence and the words in it, to see what function each serves and how it works.
The subject is one of the most important ones, so let's see what it is:
The subject is "who" or "what" DOES or IS something.
Types of subject
It's usually a noun (object, person or concept), but it can also be an action (verb in infinitive).
Subject as a person:
- Mimi es mi prima, es muy alegre - Mimi is my cousin, she's very cheerful.
The subject is "Mimi"/my cousin/she.
Subject as an object:
- La ventana está abierta - The window is open
The subject is "the window".
Subject as a concept:
- La esperanza es lo último que se pierde - Hope is the last thing that one loses.
"Hope" is the subject.
Subject as an acction:
- Comer sano es bueno para el cuerpo y la mente - To eat healthy is good for the body and the mind.
"To eat" is the subject.
Because we choose the ending of the verb depending if it's an I, you, he, she or it, ... sometimes there is no actual word mentioning what the subject is, unless it gives us more information than what we already have:
Ex:
¿Vamos a ir al cine? - Are we going to go to the cinema?
The subject is WE. Vamos tells me that.Bebieron la botella entera - They drunk the entire bottle.
The subject is THEY. The "-ieron" ending in bebieron tells me that.
I could add a more specific subject, like los chicos, the boys.
If not, I don't need to say ellos (they) because the ending -ieron, in bebieron is already for "they did".
Me gusta...
When I have an opinion phrase like me gusta (I like), nos fascina (it fascinates us), and other ones like that, with the pronoun, the pronoun is the part that tells us who has the opinion (it's not necessarily the subject but that's another conversation):
- No te interesan los deportes - You're not interested in sports.
The person who is is interested is YOU. I know because te is the pronoun for you.
Practice
Identify the subject in these sentences:
La tortilla de mi madre es la mejor - The "tortilla" of my mom is the best.
Mi hermana es un poco arrogante a veces - My sister is a bit arrogant.
El arte nos transporta -Art transport us
Este ordenador es bastante malo - This laptop is quite bad.
Tener la razón no es lo más importante en una discusión - To be right is not the most important in a discussion.
Algunas series de televisión son sobre distintas versiones del futuro - Some tv series are about different versions of the future.
A veces se aburre en casa - Sometimes he/she gets bored at home.
Nos encanta ir de senderismo - We love to go hiking.
I hope the word "subject" makes more sense now :)
¡Hasta luego!