- CONSTITUENTS
- adjunct
- adjunct, adverbial
- adjunct, attributive
- adverbial adjunct
- adverbial adjunct, order
- adverbial adjunct, types
- attributive adjunct
- direct object
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- finite verb
- indirect object (use link when not logged in)
- indirect object
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- nominal predicate
- object
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- object, direct
- object, direct (use link when not logged in)
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- object, indirect
- object, indirect (use link when not logged in)
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- object, order
- object, prepositional
- object, prepositional (use link when not logged in)
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- order of adverbial adjunct
- order of objects
- predicate
- predicate, nominal
- predicate, verbal
- prepositional object
- prepositional object (use link when not logged in)
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- relative clause
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- subject
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- types of adverbial adjuncts
- verb, finite
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Constituents - Zinsdelen
Subject - Onderwerp
The subject fulfils the role of the main actor in a clause. It carries out the action of the verb. A subject can take the shape of a (a) single noun, (b) a noun group, or (c) a subject pronoun.
| a |
Mark houdt van muziek. |
Mark loves music. |
| b |
De meeste vrienden van Mark houden van muziek. |
Most of Mark's friends love music. |
| c |
Houd jij van muziek? |
Do you love music? |
As the examples show, the subject influences the form of the finite verb. A singular subject needs a singular verb form, and a subject in the plural needs a plural conjugation. This is called agreement: subject and verb have to agree with each other in number. Sometimes a noun which is singular in Dutch has a plural equivalent in English. The word politie is a famous example of this:
| De politie denkt [singular form of the verb] dat de man net in Nederland was aangekomen, omdat hij lichte kleding droeg. |
The police think [plural form of the verb]that the man had recently arrived in the Netherlands, because he wore light clothing. |
Subject pronouns are:
|
|
unstressed |
stressed |
| singular |
1st |
('k) |
ik |
|
2nd (informal) |
je |
jij |
|
3rd (feminine) |
ze |
zij |
|
3rd (masculine) |
(ie) |
hij |
|
3rd (neuter) |
('t) |
het |
| plural |
1st |
we |
wij |
|
2nd (informal) |
jullie (je) |
jullie |
|
3rd |
ze |
zij |
| singular and plural |
2nd (formal) |
u |
u |
Every interrogative (question) or declarative (statement) clause contains a subject. An imperative (command) does not contain a subject.
A clause can only contain one subject (and one finite verb), but as one sentence can contain more than one clause, each sentence normally has as many subjects (and finite verbs) as it has clauses.
| Scholengemeenschap Het Assink in Neede gaat de namen van pesters op een bord in de hal zetten. Als een pester drie waarschuwingen heeft gehad, komt zijn of haar naam op het bord. |
The secondary school Het Assink in Neede is going to publish the names of bullies on a notice board in the hall. When a bully has had three warnings, his or her name will appear on the notice board. |
The second sentence in this example contains two clauses and therefore has two subjects: een pester is the subject of the subordinate clause (introduced by the subordinating conjunction als), and zijn of haar naam is the subject of the main clause.
Click >>here for extra information about subjects in passive sentences.
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