Unclear Subject

The subject of the sentence is the main subject or actor of the sentence; it can be any kind of noun (a person, place, or thing).

In the following sentences, the subject is underlined:

The dog ate my homework

Love is a powerful emotion.

The last day of school is in June.

In simple sentences, like the sentences above, it's easy to identify the subject: it is the noun that is "doing" the verb of the sentence.

Compound sentences, which join two independent clauses (essentially, two simple sentences) with a FANBOYS conjunction, have two subjects, one for each simple sentence. The subjects in the following sentences are underlined:

The dog ate my homework, and the cat cheered him on.

Love is a powerful emotion, but fear can be more powerful.

The last day of school is in June, so the first full month of summer is July.

Complex sentences, which include one independent clause (a simple sentence that could stand on its own) and one dependent clause (a sentence fragment which includes a subordinating conjunction), can be more complicated.   Some complex sentences have two subjects, just like the compound sentences above.

While the dog ate my homework, the cat cheered him on.

Although love is a powerful emotion, fear can be more powerful.

Because the last day of school is in June, the first full month of summer is in July.

However, sometimes the introductory clause of a complex sentence does NOT have a subject. In that case, the subject is implied, and the implied subject is the subject of the independent clause of the sentence. Sometimes, that's NOT the subject you want. For instance, do any of the sentences below sound right?

While eating my homework, the cat cheered.

In this sentence, who seems to be eating the homework?  If it is the cat, then the sentence is fine, but if it's still the dog, something is wrong here.

Although powerful, fear is even more powerful.

This sentence just seems weird, right? How can fear be more powerful than fear? And yet, we can only assume the such of the intro cause is fear.

In June, the first full month of summer is in July.

This sentence is definitely wrong, as July can't be in June.

As you can see, your brain automatically assumes the missing subject from the clause is the same as the subject of the independent clause.

Pay attention to subjects!  If they are implied, they should be consistent throughout a sentence.  If they change in the middle of the sentence, make the subjects explicit in BOTH parts of the sentence.

Practice Problems:

  • Unclear Subject Practice

    Are the dependent clause introductions to these sentences written correctly?  Is the subject clear?  If not, edit the sentence.

    1. During math class, Klause forget to turn in his homework.
    2. While eating lunch, the picnic area got really windy and cold.
    3. Though sick, the project turned out to be the best one in the room.
    4. Since early times, weather has been a predictor of mood.
    5. When early, the office allows them to play on the playground.
    6. Though young, the kids deeply respected what their grandparents had lived through.
    7. Though old, the babies made them feel young again.
    8. Whenever possible, cats like to lie in the sun.
    9. Understanding nothing, the French-English dictionary was never far from Marnie's side.
    10. Hopeful, the corpse had some unusual identifying marks.

    Answer Key:

Test Prep Practice

  • Unclear Subject

    The questions below require you to rewrite sentences in your head.  Each question tells you exactly how to begin your new sentence.  Your new sentence should have the same meaning and contain the same information as the original sentence.

    Example:

    The student senate debated for two hours and finally voted down the resolution.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Having debated the issue for two hours, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. the issue
    2. it
    3. the student senate
    4. a vote

    1)

    The congressman who faced a federal investigation resigned from his position yesterday.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Facing a federal investigation, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. his position
    2. he
    3. yesterday the investigation
    4. the congressman

    2)

    The department store is having a huge sale tomorrow and everything will be an additional 40% off.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    During its huge sale tomorrow, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. shoppers
    2. the department store
    3. all items
    4. 40% off

    3)

    Students use highlighters to make notes in their textbooks and in their own personal notes, as well as for color coding their class materials.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Useful for many things, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. students
    2. notes in textbooks
    3. class materials
    4. highlighters

    4)

    Apple releases new versions of its key products every year to encourage consumers to upgrade and buy new products.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Hoping to encourage people to purchase new devices, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. Apple
    2. consumers
    3. new versions
    4. products

    5)

    Kaitlin reads voraciously, even though she has an extremely busy school and work schedule.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Despite her busy schedule, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. readers
    2. Kaitlin
    3. the voracious reader
    4. her reading

    6)

    The teacher made a point to celebrate holidays ranging from Christmas to Diwali in order to accommodate all of the different cultural and religious views in her classroom.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Working to accommodate the views of all students, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. the class
    2. the holidays
    3. the teacher
    4. the celebrations

    7)

    The Pokemon Go phenomenon took the country by storm, turning regular people into walking gamers.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Taking the country by storm, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. gamers
    2. regular people
    3. the phenomenon
    4. Pokemon Go

    8)

    Boosters praise AP classes for providing students with advanced materials and the chance to earn college credit, while critics argue that the classes are a sham and force students to waste money on unnecessary exams.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Lauded by boosts and scorned by critics, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. AP exams
    2. AP classes
    3. advanced materials
    4. boosters

    9)

    Dropbox and Google Drive are both storage technologies that make it easier to work without access to a hard drive but rely on possibly insecure cloud security.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Making it easier to work without access to a hard drive, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. storage technologies like
    2. Dropbox's technology
    3. cloud security
    4. Google storage's security

    10)

    The American Southwest contains both geographic and anthropological sites that any lover of history and nature would love to visit.

    Rewrite, beginning with

    Containing both geographic and anthropological sites, ...

    The next word or words will be

    1. The American Southwest
    2. history and nature
    3. travelers
    4. lovers of history and nature

    Answer Key:

Skill: