Simple, Compound, and Complete Subjects

In the sentence 'The noisy bluejays squawked all morning,' what is the simple subject?

• The noisy bluejays

• bluejays

• squawked

• morning

Answer explanation

The simple subject is the main noun that the sentence is about, without any descriptive words. 'Bluejays' is the noun performing the action 'squawked'.

Select the complete subject in this sentence: My younger brother's new video game is really challenging.

• My younger brother's new video game

• video game

• brother's

• is really challenging

Answer explanation

The complete subject includes the simple subject ('game') and all the words that modify or describe it ('My younger brother's new'). It tells us exactly what is being discussed.

True or False: A compound subject is made of two or more simple subjects connected by a word like 'and' or 'or'.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This is the definition of a compound subject. It has multiple subjects that share the same verb, joined by a conjunction.

Which sentence below contains a compound subject?

• My dog and cat sleep on my bed.

• My dog chased the cat around the yard.

• My dog sleeps and snores loudly.

• My dog is friendly, but my cat is shy.

Answer explanation

This sentence has a compound subject because two subjects, 'dog' and 'cat', are joined by 'and' and share the same verb, 'sleep'. The other sentences have a simple subject or are compound sentences.

What is the simple subject in the sentence: 'My friend, an awesome skateboarder, won the competition'?

• My friend, an awesome skateboarder

• friend

• skateboarder

• competition

Answer explanation

The simple subject is 'friend'. The phrase 'an awesome skateboarder' is an appositive that renames the friend, and it is part of the complete subject but not the simple subject.

Complete the sentence with the verb that agrees with the compound subject: The markers or the crayons ___ in the art bin.

• is

• are

• was

• be

Answer explanation

When subjects are joined by 'or', the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Since 'crayons' is plural and closest to the verb, the plural verb 'are' is correct.

Complete the sentence with the best verb: Neither the coach nor the players ___ happy with the tie game.

• was

• were

• is

• be

Answer explanation

With 'neither/nor', the verb agrees with the subject closer to it. The subject 'players' is plural, so the plural past-tense verb 'were' is correct.

In the question, 'Are your brother and his best friend coming to the party?', what is the complete subject?

• Are

• your brother

• your brother and his best friend

• the party

Answer explanation

In questions, the subject often comes after the helping verb ('Are'). The complete subject here is 'your brother and his best friend,' which is a compound subject.

Complete the sentence to create a compound subject that correctly uses correlative conjunctions: _____ the dog nor the cat wanted to go outside in the rain.

• Either

• Both

• Neither

• Not only

Answer explanation

The conjunction 'nor' is always paired with 'neither' to form a correlative conjunction pair. 'Neither...nor' is used to connect two subjects in a negative statement.

Analyze the following sentence and identify its complete subject: 'Skateboarding, my favorite after-school activity, requires a lot of practice.'

• Skateboarding

• Skateboarding, my favorite after-school activity

• activity

• practice

Answer explanation

The complete subject includes the simple subject ('Skateboarding') and the appositive phrase ('my favorite after-school activity') that renames and describes it.