We have already learned about sentence patterns consisting of just one noun and an intransitive verb. Sometimes we also add an adverb to this pattern.

The attribute of a subject can be an article, an adjective, a noun in the possessive case or a possessive adjective.

Study the following sentences.

Children play football.

In each of the following sentences supply a verb in agreement with its subject.

1. The jury …………………. divided in their opinion.

2. The Three Musketeers ………………………. written by Dumas.

Incorrect: The news are too good to be true.
Correct: The news is too good to be true.

Incorrect: Politics are a dirty game.
Correct: Politics is a dirty game.

Infinitive clause as subject

An infinitive clause can be the subject of a sentence. This was common in older English.

An English sentence must have at least one subject and one predicate. The subject denotes the person or thing about which something is said.
The subject is usually the first noun or noun phrase in a sentence and it represents the thing that the rest of the sentence is about. The subject may consist of one word or several words but it must still have a noun or pronoun it. The main word in the subject is called the subject-word.