The Basics
* Subject-Verb Agreement: In most sentences, the noun (or pronoun) that performs the action of the verb is called the subject. The subject *usually* comes before the verb.
* Examples:
* The dog barked. (Dog is the subject)
* My friend arrived early. (Friend is the subject)
* They left yesterday. (They is the subject)
Beyond the Basics
While the subject-verb pattern is common, there are other situations where a noun might appear before a verb:
* Direct Object: The noun receiving the action of the verb.
* The cat chased *the mouse*. (Mouse is the direct object)
* Indirect Object: The noun that benefits from the action.
* He gave *her* *a gift*. (Her is the indirect object)
* Prepositional Phrase: A phrase starting with a preposition (like "on", "to", "with", etc.) that modifies the verb or the subject.
* We walked *on the beach*. (On the beach is a prepositional phrase)
* Object of the Preposition: The noun in the prepositional phrase.
* I sat *next to the window*. (Window is the object of the preposition)
Important Notes
* Word Order: English has a fairly fixed word order, making the subject usually appear before the verb. But, there are exceptions, like when the sentence starts with a phrase like "Never" or "Sometimes."
* Context: The meaning of the sentence dictates the function of each noun.
Let me know if you have any specific examples you'd like to analyze!