ENGLISH TITLES: Functions of the Noun phrase/Noun clause --Subject

The noun phrase/noun clause performs the following functions in a sentence:

1. Subject

2. Object (direct and indirect)

3. Complement (Subject and Object)

4. Apposition 

The noun phrase/noun clause as subject

The noun phrase/noun clause functions as subject when it answers the question WHO/WHAT before the verb in a sentence. Generally, though, the subject has been said to be the performer of the action in a sentence. 

The following are examples of the noun phrase functioning as subject.

(Please note that the answer to each of the questions underneath the given sentences is the subject.)

That boy is very stubborn.

(WHO is very stubborn?)

The young man is a doctor.

(WHO is a doctor?)

The principal of my school is a disciplinarian. 

(WHO is a disciplinarian?)

The noun clause as subject

Whoever did this will have himself to blame!

(WHO will have himself to blame?)

That he failed an exam is not the end of the world. 

(WHAT is not the end of the world?)

The robbers who stole a car on the banking premises have been apprehended. 

(WHO have been apprehended?)

What the woman did to her househelp is terrible! 

(WHAT is terrible?)

One way to identify the noun clause when functioning as subject in a sentence is that it can be replaced by at least one of the following pronouns: he, she, it, they, appropriately. 

Whoever did this will have himself to blame!

(He will have himself to blame.)

That he failed an exam is not the end of the world. 

(It is not the end of the world.)

The robbers who stole a car on the banking premises have been apprehended. 

(They have been apprehended.)

What the woman did to her househelp is terrible! 

(It is terrible.)

Apart from noun phrases and noun clauses, the following can also function as subject:

Proper nouns

Nouns (in this case, Plural Nouns) 

Pronouns 

Gerund (Nouns formed from verbs)

1. Proper nouns as subject 

Messi is skilful. 

(Who is skilful?)

Nelson Mandela is revered all over the world. 

(WHO is revered all over the world?)

Theresa May is the second female British Prime Minister. 

2. Plural nouns as subject

Boys are usually stubborn.

(WHO are very stubborn?)

Teachers are indispensable. 

(WHO are indispensable?)

How does it sound to say, Boy is usually stubborn? Except you would say, The boy is usually stubborn, in which case the subject--the boy--would be a noun phrase. That is why it is the plural noun, not singular noun, to be used as subject. Understood? Good! 👍🏿

3. Pronouns as subject

He is very stubborn.

(WHO is very stubborn?)

They arrived yesterday.

(WHO arrived yesterday?)

4. Gerund as subject

Cooking is my hobby.

(WHAT is my hobby?)

Reading is a good habit to form. 

(WHAT is a good habit?)

Please note that cooking as used in the sentence above is not functioning as a verb but as a noun. Do you know the reason? It's simple! It is because it answers the question WHAT. Another simple way to recognise gerund functioning as subject is to replace the gerund with the pronoun 'it' in the sentence. 

Cooking is my hobby.

(It is my hobby.)

Reading is a good habit to form.

(It is a good habit to form.)

Suggested previous English titles

Identifying adjectival clause:  http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2017/10/grammar-point.html?m=1

Word formation processes http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/03/word-formation-processes-affixation-how.html?m=1

Take a test http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/04/take-test.html?m=1

Spoken English http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2017/10/spoken-english-class-many-candidate-has.html?m=1

Homophones 

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/02/toluwalade-learns-to-pronounce-flour.html?m=1

Polysemous words

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/03/poor-chike-struggles-with-words-with.html?m=1

Formation of plural nouns

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/03/nouns-formation-of-plural-nouns.html?m=1

http://olabanjititles.blogspot.com/2019/02/english-lessons-lesson-1.html?m=1