Question about a compound sentence

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

jm - 17 Jan 2004 02:03 GMT

What is the subject of a compound sentence? It has two sentences
separated by a conjunction. What do I say the subject is? Thank you.

Reply to this Message

jm - 17 Jan 2004 02:12 GMT

like:

The doorbell rang, and I opened the door. What is the subject there since it
is a compound sentence? Please.

> What is the subject of a compound sentence? It has two sentences
> separated by a conjunction. What do I say the subject is? Thank you.

Reply to this Message

Mike - 17 Jan 2004 02:29 GMT

Each independent clause has both a subject and predicate, both are tied
together with a conjunction, and it can be split into two sentences without
buggering up the meaning.
"I have a dog, and his name is Spot."
-or-
"I have a dog. His name is Spot."

Either of these is acceptable.

I'd diagram this, but that would involve entirely too much ASCII usage, and
a non-proportional font.

> What is the subject of a compound sentence? It has two sentences
> separated by a conjunction. What do I say the subject is? Thank you.

Reply to this Message

jm - 17 Jan 2004 02:48 GMT

Well, the problem is that I have to underline the subject and the verb. But
if there are two of them, which do I underline? Are there two subjects?

> Each independent clause has both a subject and predicate, both are tied
> together with a conjunction, and it can be split into two sentences without
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> > What is the subject of a compound sentence? It has two sentences
> > separated by a conjunction. What do I say the subject is? Thank you.

Reply to this Message

CyberCypher - 17 Jan 2004 04:56 GMT

"jm" <john_20_28_2000@yahoo.com> wrote on 17 Jan 2004:

>> > What is the subject of a compound sentence? It has two
>> > sentences separated by a conjunction. What do I say the
>> > subject is? Thank you.

> "Mike" <w8ry@dragonSKIP-THISbbs.com> wrote

>> Each independent clause has both a subject and predicate, both
>> are tied together with a conjunction, and it can be split into
>> two sentences without buggering up the meaning.

>> "I have a dog, and his name is Spot."
>> -or-
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>> I'd diagram this, but that would involve entirely too much ASCII
>> usage, and a non-proportional font.

> Well, the problem is that I have to underline the subject and the
> verb. But if there are two of them, which do I underline? Are
> there two subjects?

Yes, you have to underline both:

Subj-1 Verb-1
The doorbell rang, and

Subj-2 Verb-2
I opened the door.

As Mike pointed out, there are *two* sentences, each with its own
subject and verb in this case. The entire compound sentence has no
single subject and no single verb.

Maybe it would be better if you thought of these things as
independent clauses, ie clauses that can stand alone because the have
a subject and a predicate and no preceding subordinator, eg "When",
as in

"When the doorbell rang, I opened the door".

But even in this complex sentence, there are the same two subjects
and two verbs.

Signature

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.

Reply to this Message

Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

Question about a compound sentence