The sentences can present an indeterminate subject, non-existent subject or determined subject. The latter is further subdivided into three types: simple subject, compound subject and hidden subject.
1. simple subject
When the main verb of a sentence refers to a single-headed subject, we have a simple subject.
The subject's core is your main and most important word.
It is important to note that a simple subject is not necessarily represented by just one word or by a term inflected in the singular.
Simple subject examples:
- Paulo bought a bicycle.
- The boys are playing in the yard.
Regarding the first example, if we ask ourselves “Who bought the bicycle”?, we will have the answer: “Paulo”. In this case, the verb “bought” refers to a subject with a single nucleus: Paulo.
In the second example, if we ask ourselves “Who is playing in the backyard?”, we will have the answer “The boys”. Note that, in this case, the subject is formed by two words. However, the core of the subject is the “boys” element.
2. compound subject
When the main verb of a sentence refers to two or more heads of the subject, we have a compound subject.
It is important to note that a compound subject is not necessarily a plural word. Note below.
Examples of composite subject:
- Camila and Lorena made the party's sweets.
- The teacher and students rehearsed for the school party.
In the first example, if we ask ourselves “Who made the sweets for the party?”, we will have as an answer “Camila and Lorena”, that is, a guy with two cores; core 1: Camila; core 2: Lorraine.
The same is true for the second example. When we ask ourselves “Who rehearsed for the school party?”, we will have the answer “The teacher and the students”. Nucleus 1: teacher; core 2: students.
However, see how the sentence below is different:
Example:
The grandchildren presented the grandmother.
If we ask ourselves “Who gave the grandmother a gift?”, we will have the answer “The grandchildren”. Note that the words of such an answer are in the plural, but this is not indicative of a compound subject.
As the subject has only one nucleus (grandchildren), we have a case of a simple subject.
See too: Compound subject: what is it and how is the agreement (with examples)
3. Hidden Subject or Disinential Subject
Also referred to as elliptical subject, implicit subject and unspoken subject, the hidden/desinential subject is the one that does not appear explicitly in the sentence. We can say that we know he's there, but we can't see him.
However, we can identify it because of the ending of the verb in the sentence.
The ending consists of elements at the end of the word that allow the identification of the verbal person to which it refers, understanding whether the word is masculine or feminine, singular or plural, etc.
When analyzing the verb inflection "we are", for example, we observe the following: -mos: ending personal number indicative of the 1st person plural (we).
Hidden Subject Examples:
- We are very proud of you.
- I left my key at home.
In both examples, what tells us what the subject is is the ending of the verbal inflection. In the first example, the verb “thismos” tells us that the subject can only be “us”. In the second example, the verb “letHey” is indicative that the subject of the sentence is “I”.
In this case, both the subject “we” and the subject “I” are implied.
See too: Hidden subject
4. determined subject
The determined subject is the one that can be identified. Compare the examples below:
- Rita said it will rain (determined subject).
- They said it will rain (undetermined subject).
Note that, in the first example, we can identify the subject (Rita). Therefore, we have a case of a determined subject.
In the second sentence, we know that someone said it will rain, but we don't know who.
Simple, compound or hidden subjects are determined subjects.
5. Indeterminate subject
The indeterminate subject is the one who makes reference to someone, but does not identify him.
This type of subject is usually accompanied by verbs inflected in the third person plural, or by verbs inflected in the third person singular, accompanied by the particle -se.
Examples of indeterminate subject:
- They forgot to lock the door.
- Sellers needed.
Note that in the first example, we know that someone forgot to lock the door, but not exactly who.
In the second sentence, we identify that someone or some place needs sellers, but we do not understand who or what place.
See too: Indeterminate subject and subject indeterminacy index.
6. Non-existent subject (prayer without subject)
The non-existent subject occurs in what we call the subjectless prayer, and is accompanied by an impersonal verb.
Impersonal verbs are not accompanied by subjects and may indicate: natural phenomena (raining, snowing, cold, hot, etc.); elapsed time (being, doing, etc.) and existence or happening of something (having).
Examples of non-existent subject:
- It snowed all day.
- I have been studying at this school for three years.
- There are a lot of people on the beach.
- In my family there was a similar case.
See too: Subjectless prayer and impersonal verbs.
Exercises on subject types
1. (CESPE/2019 - adapted)
Text CB1A1-I
In 1996, in Smart Contracts, cryptographer Nick Szabo predicted that the internet would forever change the nature of legal systems. The justice of the future, he said, would be based on a technology called smart contracts.
The legal contracts that lawyers usually work with are written in language that is often ambiguous and subject to different interpretations. A smart contract is an agreement written in software code. As a programming language, it is clear and objective. The contract is executed automatically when the agreed conditions are fulfilled. Both parties can be almost completely confident that the agreement will be fulfilled as agreed. And it all takes place on a decentralized computer network. There is nothing the parties can do to prevent the contract from being fulfilled.
Let's imagine that Alice buys a car with a bank credit but fails to pay her installments. One morning, he slips his digital key into the vehicle — and the door won't open. It was blocked due to non-compliance with the contract. Minutes later, the bank employee arrives with another digital key. He opens the door, starts the engine and drives off with the vehicle. The smart contract automatically blocked Alice's use of the car because of her failure to comply with the contract. The bank retrieves the vehicle without wasting time on money or lawyers. Szabo proposed smart contracts in the 1990s. But for a long time, the proposal was just the idea. Then in 2014 a 19-year-old Russian Canadian named Vitalik Buterin, using blockchain, launched Ethereum. It is a network that maintains a record shared with the bitcoin network, but has a more sophisticated programming language, which allows the recording of intelligent contracts. Smart contracts promise to automate many of the actions that have historically been done through legal systems, reducing their costs and increasing their speed and security.
Although the segment is at an early stage, more legaltechs are gradually emerging to apply smart contracts in different sectors of the economy. One of the main challenges lies in the regulatory environment — in particular, in the legal recognition of these contracts.
“Today, we have projects to implement smart contracts with legal validity, such as OpenLaw, by ConsenSys (United States), Accord Project (USA and United Kingdom), Agrello (Estonia) and dozens of small businesses around the world,” says lawyer specializing in new technologies Albi Rodriguez Jaramillo, co-founder of the LegalBlock community of lawyers specializing in blockchain.
A second challenge is to develop the infrastructure necessary for smart contracts to be executed. This includes creating smart locks that respond to the orders of these contracts. They are what will make the hypothetical debtor Alice unable to open the car because she failed to pay the installments. In the future it will also be possible for a house rented on Airbnb to open its doors automatically when payment occurs. The company Slock.it develops a Universal Sharing Network in which, it is hoped, cars, houses and other assets of the shared economy will interact. It will be a key part of the development of smart contracts in the new economy.
Federico Ast. How will we do justice? - The arrival of smart contracts. In: SEASON Business.9/12/2018. Internet https://epocanegocios.globo.com/Tecnologia/noticia/2018/12/como-faremos-justica.html (with adaptations)
Regarding the linguistic properties and meanings of text CB1A1-I, judge the following item.
In the section “Open the door, start the engine and depart with the vehicle”, the term “the vehicle” is subject to the verb forms “Open”, “turns on” and “parts”.
a) right
b) wrong
Correct alternative: b) Wrong
We can understand that the phrase does not identify who performs the actions of “opening”, “connecting” and “leaving”. So we have a hidden subject.
In order to know who practices the aforementioned actions, we need to read the previous sentences. When we observe the segment “Minutes later, the bank employee arrives with another key.”, we can see that the subject, after all, is “the bank employee”.
2. (Fatec-SP/2017)
TEXT:
“There wasn't a second to lose. She took the ax out from under her cloak, lifting it with both hands and, with a dry, almost mechanical gesture, dropped it on the old woman's head. Her hands seemed to have no more strength. However, she re-acquired them as soon as the first blow vibrated.
The old woman was bareheaded, as usual. Her light, gray and sparse hair, heavily oiled, formed a small braid, held at the nape of her neck by a fragment of a comb. Since she was short, the blow hit her in the temples. She gave a weak cry and fell, having, however, had time to put her hands to her head.”
(DOSTOIEVSKI, F. Crime and Punishment. São Paulo: April, 2010. p.111.)
In the excerpt “she Gave a weak cry and fell.”, The subject of the highlighted verbs is
a) compound, because the actions of the two verbs are attributed to the personal pronoun she.
b) non-existent, as the personal pronoun does not appear in the sentence.
c) deinencial, since the conjugation of the verb with the personal pronoun is implied.
d) undetermined, as it is not possible to determine the position of the personal pronoun it in the excerpt.
Correct alternative: c) desinencial, since the conjugation of the verb with the personal pronoun is implied.
a) WRONG. The subject's classification is designated as "compound" when it has two heads, not when actions of two or more verbs are assigned to it.
b) WRONG. The fact that "she" does not appear in the sentence is indicative of a hidden subject, not a non-existent subject.
c) CORRECT. Also called "hidden subject", the "disinential subject" is one that does not appear explicitly in the sentence. To identify it, we must note the ending of the verb; the ending that indicates the accompanying verbal person, gender, number, etc.
In the aforementioned passage, "deu" and "caiu" are forms of the verbs "to give" and "to fall" inflected in the third person singular (he/she/you). When reading the sentences preceding the excerpt, we can see that the subject is "the old woman", which corresponds to "she".
"The old he was bareheaded, as usual. Her light, gray and sparse hair, heavily oiled, formed a small braid, held at the nape of her neck by a fragment of a comb. Since she was short, the blow hit her in the temples. She gave a weak cry and fell, having, however, time to put her hands to her head. "
d) WRONG. An indeterminate subject occurs when we know there is reference to something or someone, but we don't know who or what. This type of subject has nothing to do with determining the subject's position in the sentence.
3. (OSEC) From the prayers: “Silence is requested”, “The cave was gradually getting dark”, “It was tremendously hot that afternoon” – the subject is classified respectively as:
a) indeterminate, non-existent, simple
b) hidden, simple, non-existent
c) non-existent, non-existent, non-existent
d) hidden, non-existent, simple
e) simple, simple, non-existent
Correct alternative: e) simple, simple, non-existent
Look at the explanations below to understand the classification of subject types for each sentence.
1. "Silence is requested."
Here we have a case of a patient subject, that is, a subject who suffers the action. In the sentence, silence undergoes the action of being asked.
As it is a subject with a single core (silence), it is classified as simple.
2. "The cave was gradually getting dark."
The subject of the phrase is "the cave". As it has only one nucleus (cave), it is a simple subject.
3. "It was tremendously hot that afternoon"
In the sentence, the verb "to do" was used to indicate a phenomenon of nature (heat). This is indicative of a non-existent subject; the verb does not refer to anything or anyone, and does not indicate who/who performs the action.
To learn more, see:
- Subject: types and exercises
- subject and predicate
- subject predicative
- Essential terms of prayer
- Exercises on types of subject with feedback
- Subject and Predicate Exercises