Subjects
Subjects are either nouns (mostly, names of people) or pronouns (words such as I, we, you, they, he, she, it). To begin any sentence, we need subjects and the rest of the sentence depends on this subject.
Singular Subjects (like, Mr Wills)
Plural Subjects (like, Mr and Mrs Wills)
Read the entire grammar section and go through all the solved and unsolved tests.
Why are we starting with Subject?
I believe we should start with subjects because every sentence has a subject that agrees with the rest of the sentence. Most of the errors I have corrected in OET letters and speaking role-plays are in connection with subject – verb issues.
NB: Before you start, you may not understand each rules mentioned below. If you do not understand, the same will be discussed during the discussion time from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm Indian Time.
What are Subjects in a Sentence?
Every sentence has a subject and a verb. Most errors happen in English when your knowledge of Subject – Verb is poor! Subjects are usually nouns (like ‘Mr Peter Parker) and pronouns (like ‘he’ and ‘she’) that carry out the main action in a sentence.
Mr Peter Parker is a smoker.
Mrs Parker takes care of their two sons but Mr Parker is always busy with his job.
She has no complaints because she knows that indirectly her husband is also taking care of their sons and herself.
In the two sentences above, Mr Peter Parker and Mrs Parker are the subjects.
In the first sentence above, Mr Parker does not do any action when we speak about him but we say that “he is a smoker” because he usually does ‘smoking’.
In the second sentence above, Mrs Parker does an action but again, Mr Parker does not do any particular action but it is evident that he ‘does’ some job.
What are the common subjects in OET?
1. Names of patients like:
Ms Emma,
Mr Billy,
Master Rohan, etc.
2. Nouns that do not have a “name”. In OET the names of patients, most disease names, most medicine names, etc.
The patient and her mother need immediate psychological support…,
Your son’s involvement in unprotected sexual activities has made him weak over the years.
The family needs support of a social worker to overcome this situation.
3. Pronouns like:
He – “He needs to be monitored for breathing difficulty.”
She – “She can now ambulate without a support.”
It – “It is a common disease among children.”
They – “They need the service of a home care nurse.”
I – “I think the child and father should consult a psychiatrist.”
We – “We are providing a wedge pillow for a period of 3 weeks.”
You – “You need to talk to the mother of the child before further assessment.”
Finding out Subjects Direct Sentences (Active)
Direct Sentences or Active Voice follow a Subject → Verb. For example, “She commenced medication on Aspirin” is Subject → Verb sentence.
Ms Elizabeth lives alone. (Social History)
He can neither read English nor speak meaningful sentences. (Social History)
She was admitted her a month ago with osteoarthritis and a sudden outbreak of eczema. (Medical history)
Subjects in Indirect Sentences (Passive)
Now you know that the subject in “She needs urgent treatment” is “She” and “The patient can walk without support” is “The patient.”
Alright but what about “She was advised to avoid lifting more than 10 kg of weight”?
Is it “She”?
In fact, No! Here we have to ask the same questions – what or who!
Ask: Who / What advised her?
Answer: A doctor, nurse or most probably, a physiotherapist!
That makes sense but why is that not mentioned? Now listen! When the subject is not given directly, such a sentence is said to be in Passive Voice. Remember, you will have to guess “by whom” each action was done.
Her treatment was commenced on Aspirin.
She was advised to do a lot of exercise.
Warfarin was prescribed for him.
Ask by whom each action was done!
In the first sentence, “the doctor commenced her treatment on Warfarin.”
In the second sentence, “her dietitian advised her to do a lot of exercise.”
In the third sentence, probably “the doctor prescribed Warfarin for him.”
We will see Passive Voice in details on another day. Now this is enough!
Find out Subjects
Below is a quiz. Find out the subjects in each sentence and click the correct subject from the options. To get the subject:
Find out the verb.
ask “who / what / by whom” did that action.
Look at this sentence:
Sentence: “She commenced medication on Aspirin.”
Question: Who commenced medication on Aspirin?
Answer: “She…”
