What is a composite subject?
Compound subject is one that presents more than one nucleus of the subject, which is the most important term.
Examples:
- Ana and Bia go to the party (subjects: “Ana” and “Bia”, whose cores are “Ana” and “Bia”).
- Rice and beans are the foods most consumed by Brazilians (subjects: “rice” and “beans”, whose cores are “rice” and “beans”).
Composite and simple subject: what's the difference?
The difference between simple and compound subject is in the NUCLEUS. While the compound subject has more than one nucleus, the simple subject has only one.
Simple subject examples:
- Ana goes to the party alone (subject: “Ana”, whose core is “Ana”).
- The friends go to the party (subject: “the friends”, whose core is “friends”).
The fact of being in the plural does not mean that the subject is composed. What matters is the nucleus, that is, the number of words, not the number of people the word implies.
Although “friends” indicates more than one girl, it does not mean that the subject is composed.
Examples of sentences with a compound subject
Guava and passion fruit fell from the tree.
Tours, parties and games outdoors were on the vacation program.
John or Mary can help you in this task.
The teacher and the students They arrived.
Read and write it's what he likes to do the most.
the brother and sister they made up.
You and I we will make the best cake of the party.
attacked each other defendant and witness.
prose and poetry touched his heart.
Husband and wife they need to share the household chores.
Verbal agreement with compound subject
There are different rules for agreeing the verb with the compound subject. They depend on whether the verb comes before or after the subject:
subject before the verb
When the subject comes before the verb, the verb must go plural (I and he worked together).
Attention to the following situations:
- When the subject nuclei are synonymous words, the verb can be singular or plural: tiredness and weakness is/are the origin of its performance.
- When the subject's cores are words in gradation, the verb can be in the plural or agree with the last core of the subject: calm, patience sane necessary to face this situation./calm down, patience is necessary to deal with this situation.
- When the subject is formed by different grammatical people, the agreement must respect the following order: first person, second person and third person: You, he and I are going to the movies./ you and he go to the movies.
subject after the verb
When the subject comes after the verb, there are two possibilities:
- Verb can go to plural: Nothing said boss and employee.
- Verb can agree with the core of the closest subject: Nothing said boss and employee.
For you to understand better:
- Subject: types and exercises
- Subject Types: ALL subject types explained with examples
- Verbal agreement
- Verbal agreement exercises with commented feedback