In all of these sentences the pronoun is the simple subject of the sentence, and the pronoun with all of its modifiers is the complete subject of the sentence.

418. The participle may be used as a noun, the subject of the sentence. For example:

• Traveling is pleasant.

Here the present participle traveling is used as a noun, subject of the sentence. Participle phrases may also be used as nouns, as for example:

• Being prepared will not save us from war.
• His having signed the note was the cause of the trouble.

In these sentences, being prepared and having signed are participle phrases used as nouns, the subjects of the verbs will save and was. Note the use of the participle used as the subject in the following sentences:

• Painting is an art.
• Making shoes is his work.
• Being discovered seems to be the real crime.
• His having joined his comrades was a brave act.
• Your remaining here will be dangerous.

Note that when the participle is used as a noun, the possessive form of the pronoun is always used with it, as in the sentence above:

• Your remaining here will be dangerous.

Notice that in some of these sentences the participle has an object; as, making shoes, his having joined his comrades. The participle still retains some of its verb nature in that it may take an object. The entire phrases, His having joined his comrades, and, Making shoes, are the subjects of the sentences.

419. The infinitive may also be used as a noun, the subject of the sentence. Note in the following sentences the use of the infinitive as the subject of the sentence:

• To err is human; to forgive is divine.
• To be or not to be is the question.
• To toil all day is wearisome.
• To aim is one thing; to hit the mark is another.
• To remain ignorant is to remain a slave.

420. An adjective can also be used as the subject. You remember in our study of adjectives we found that an adjective may be used as a noun, as for example:

• The strong enslave the weak.

Here the adjective strong is used as a noun, subject of the sentence. Note in the following sentences, the use of the adjectives as subjects:

• The wise instruct the ignorant.
• The dead were left upon the battlefields.
• The rich look down upon the poor.
• The mighty of the earth have forced this war upon us.
• The poor are enslaved by their ignorance.
• The wounded were carried to the hospitals.

PLACE OF THE SUBJECT IN A SENTENCE

The subject usually comes first in the sentence. If it has any modifiers, they alone precede the subject, as for example:

• A wonderful, inspiring lecture was given.
• The weary army slept in the trenches.

But occasionally we find the subject after the verb.

421. By simple inversion.

We will often find this use in poetry or in poetic prose, as for example:

• Never have I heard one word to the contrary.

In this sentence I is the subject of the sentence, have heard is the verb, and never is an adverb modifying the verb phrase, have heard. But in order to place emphasis upon the word never, which is the emphatic word in the sentence, never is placed first, and the verb phrase inverted so that the subject I comes in between the two words which form the verb phrase. The sentence expressed in its usual order would be:

• I have never heard one word to the contrary.

You will note that this statement does not carry the same emphasis upon the word never as the inverted statement.

422. In interrogative sentences, the subject comes after the helping verb or after the interrogative used to introduce the sentence. As for example:

• Have you heard the news?
• When will we hear from you?
• How have the people been managing?
• What will the children do then?
• Will the students come later?
• Can the work be accomplished quickly?
• Must our youth end so quickly?

423. The real subject comes after the verb when we use the introductory word it. As for example:

• It will not be safe to go.

To go is really the subject of the sentence. To go will not be safe.

It is sometimes the real subject of a sentence, as in the sentence; It is a wonderful story.

Here it is the subject of the sentence and a wonderful story is the predicate complement. But in the sentence:

• It is wonderful to hear him tell the story.

To hear him tell the story is the real subject of the sentence. The first sentence, It is a wonderful story, could not be rewritten, but the second sentence could be rewritten, as follows:

• To hear him tell the story is wonderful.

424. The introductory word there reverses the order of the sentence, just as the introductory word it. The real subject is used later in the sentence. As for example:

• There were a great many people present.

This could be rewritten, omitting the introductory word there. We could say:

• A great many people were present.

The noun people is the subject of the sentence.

Exercise 1

In the following sentences, underscore the complete subject with one line, and the simple subject with two lines, and decide whether the simple subject is a noun, pronoun, participle, infinitive or an adjective used as a noun:

1. A great man is universal and elemental.
2. To love justice was his creed.
3. A more inspiring and noble declaration of faith was never born of human heart.
4. The reading of good books should begin in childhood.
5. Dreaming of great things will not bring us to the goal.
6. The weary seek for rest.
7. To believe in yourself is the first essential.
8. He, speaking and writing constantly for the cause, has given his life to the movement.
9. To remain ignorant is to remain a slave.
10. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
11. A great soul has simply nothing to do with consistency.
12. To be great is to be misunderstood.
13. Traveling is a fool's paradise.
14. It is not enough to be sincere.
15. We, seeking the truth, have found our own.
16. There are thousands of comrades with us.

THE COMPLETE PREDICATE

425. Look first in the predicate for your verb. It will always be the principal part of your predicate. It may be a verb or a verb phrase, but the first thing in analyzing the complete predicate of the sentence is to find the verb. The verb or verb phrase without any of its modifiers constitutes the simple predicate. If the verb is a complete verb, its only modifiers will be adverbs or adverb phrases. For example:

• A splendid statue of Lincoln stands yonder in the park.

In this sentence, stands yonder in the park is the complete predicate. Stands is a complete verb. It requires no object, but it is modified by the adverb yonder and by the adverb phrase in the park.

INCOMPLETE VERBS

426. If the verb in the predicate is an incomplete verb of action, then the object of the verb is also part of the predicate. The complete predicate containing an incomplete verb of action may contain five parts; a verb, a direct object, an indirect object, an adverb and an adverb phrase. As for example:

• The tailor gladly made him a coat at that time.

In this sentence, the complete predicate is gladly made him a coat at that time. Made is the verb. It is an incomplete verb of action, and coat is its direct object. Him is the indirect object. Made is also modified by the adverb gladly, and the adverb phrase, at that time.

All of these are not always used, of course, in every predicate; but these are the elements which may occur in the predicate with an incomplete verb.

THE OBJECT OF THE VERB

427. Words used as objects of a verb are practically the same as those which may be used for its subject.

We may have a noun used as the object of the verb. For example:

• Hail destroyed the crops.
• The banks rob the farmers.
• We must educate the children.
• Labor produces all wealth.

In these sentences, crops, farmers, children and wealth are nouns used as the object of the verb.

A pronoun may also be used as the object of a verb. For example:

• Will you not teach me?
• Send them to her.
• They have invited us.
• The comrades will remember him.

In the above sentences, me, them, us and him are the objects of the verbs, will teach, send, have invited and will remember.

Remember that in pronouns we have a different form for the object form, as, me, her, him, us and them.

428. An infinitive may also be used as the object of a verb, thus:

• I like to study.
• He asked to go.
• I want to learn all that I can.

In this last sentence, the infinitive, to learn, is the direct object of the verb want. The object of the infinitive, to learn, is all that I can. All of this taken together with the verb want, forms the complete predicate, want to learn all that I can. 429. The participle may also be used as the object of a verb, thus:

• We heard the thundering of the cannon.
• We enjoyed the dancing.
• Do you hear the singing of the birds?

In these sentences, the participles thundering, dancing, and singing are the objects of the verbs heard, enjoyed and do hear.

430. An adjective used as a noun may also be used as the object of a verb, thus:

• I saw the rich and the poor struggling together.
• The struggle for existence crushes the weak.
• Seek the good and the true.

In these sentences the adjectives rich, poor, weak, good and true, are used as nouns and are the objects of the verbs saw, crushes and seek.

VERBS OF STATE OR CONDITION

We have found that with the incomplete verbs of state or condition, or copulative verbs, the predicate complement may be either a noun, as, The man is a hero; or an adjective, as, The man is class-conscious; or a phrase, as, The man is in earnest.

• The predicate complement may also be:

431. A pronoun; as,

• Who is she?
• That was he.
• This is I.

In these sentences the subjects of the verbs are she, that and this, and the pronouns who, he and I are used as predicate complements.

432. Infinitives may also be used as the predicate complement, thus:

• To remain ignorant is to remain a slave.

To remain ignorant, is the subject of the copulative verb is, and the infinitive, to remain, with its complement, a slave, is the predicate complement.

433. A participle used as a noun may also be used as the predicate complement, thus:

• Society is the mingling of many elements.

Mingling, in this sentence is a participle of the verb mingle, but is used as a noun, the predicate complement of the verb is. Society is the subject of the verb.

Where the present participle is used to form a verb phrase, the participle is part of the verb phrase, thus:

• We are mingling in society.

Here, are mingling, is the present progressive verb phrase, and the participle mingling is not used as a noun or adjective, but is part of the verb phrase are mingling.

If you will observe the different parts of speech carefully, you will not be easily confused as to whether the participle is a noun or a part of the verb phrase.

Exercise 2

In the following sentences the incomplete verbs, including infinitives and participles, are in italics. Mark the words, phrases or clauses which are used as objects or complements, to complete the meaning of these verbs.

There is no such thing in America as an independent press, unless it is in the country towns.

You have it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write his honest opinions. If you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print.

I am paid $150.00 a week for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper with which I am connected. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things. Any one of you who would be so foolish as to write his honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job.

The business of the New York journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to villify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his race and his country for his daily bread.

You know this and I know it. So what folly is this to be toasting an "Independent Press."

We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping-jacks; they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.—John Swinton.

MODIFIERS OF THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

434. Remember that a simple sentence is one that contains a single statement, question or command. It is a clause, for it contains a subject and a predicate; but it contains only the one subject and the one predicate. A sentence containing two principal clauses, or a principal clause and a subordinate clause, would contain two complete statements, questions or commands, therefore it would not be a simple sentence, but compound or complex.

Remember, however, that the simple sentences may contain two or more subjects with the same predicate, or two or more predicates with the same subject, or both a compound subject and a compound predicate.

435. The modifiers in a simple sentence are always words or phrases. The modifiers of the subject are either adjectives or adjective phrases. The modifiers of the predicate are either adverbs or adverb phrases. If an adjective or an adverb clause is used as a modifier, then the sentence is no longer a simple sentence, but becomes a complex sentence, for it now contains a dependent clause.

ORDER OF ELEMENTS

436. The usual order of the principal elements in the sentence is the subject, the predicate and the object or complement, thus:

Subject	Predicate
Men	work
Subject	Predicate	Object
Men	build	houses
Subject	Predicate	Complement
Books	are	helpful

This is called the natural or logical order. Logical means according to sense or reason.

Adjectives usually stand before the nouns they modify, thus:

• Good books are helpful.

Adverbs may be placed either before or after the verbs they modify, thus:

• The men then came quickly to the rescue.

The adverb then precedes the verb came, which it modifies; and the adverb quickly is placed after the verb.

Adverbs which modify adjectives or other adverbs are placed before the words which they modify, thus:

• The more industrious students learn quite rapidly.

In this sentence, the adverb more is placed before the adjective industrious, which it modifies; and the adverb quite is placed before the adverb rapidly, which it modifies.

Adjective and adverb phrases usually follow the words which they modify, thus:

• The men in the car came quickly to the rescue.
• The manager of the mine remained with the men.

In this last sentence, the adjective phrase, of the mine, is placed after the noun manager, which it modifies, and the adverb phrase, with the men, is placed after the verb remained, which it modifies.

437. These sentences illustrate the logical order in which the elements of the sentence usually come. But this logical order is not strictly adhered to. Many times, in order to place the emphasis upon certain words, we reverse this order and place the emphasized words first, as:

• Without your help, we cannot win.

The logical order of this sentence is:

• We cannot win without your help.

But we want to place the emphasis upon your help, so we change the order of the words and place the phrase, without your help, first.

438. This inversion of the order helps us to express our thought with more emphasis. Our language is so flexible that we can express the same thought in different ways by simply changing the order of the elements in the sentence. Notice in the following sentences, the inversion of the usual order, and see what difference this makes in the expression of the thought.

• Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
• A more terrible scene you cannot imagine.
• With the shrieking of shot and shell the battle raged.
• Louder and louder thundered the tempest.
• Silently and sadly the men returned to their homes.

To transpose these inverted sentences—that is to place the elements in their logical order, gives us an insight into the thought expressed in the sentence. It is worth a great deal to us to be able in our reading to see the live elements in the sentence at a glance, and in this way we can grasp at once the thought of the sentence. So you will find that this analyzing of the sentences is very helpful to us in our reading.

439. When we have learned to analyze a sentence quickly we will not be lost in the maze of words. A paragraph is often like a string of pearls. The author has a single thread of thought running through the different sentences which compose the paragraph and if we have trained ourselves well in sentence analysis, we will never lose this thread. It will be like a life line to which we cling while the breakers of thought and emotion roar about us.

Exercise 3

In the following poem, study carefully the inverted order of the sentences. Rewrite them, placing the elements in their logical order. As for example:

• To the poor man you've been true from of old.

The elements of the sentence are inverted in this quotation. Rewritten in their logical order this would read:

• You've been true to the poor man from of old.

You will note that this inversion is quite common in poetry.