Is this a Subject or an Object??

[ongetz]

I have a question.

No two people are alike; no two dogs are alike. We often see in the same family an almost entirely
different makeup in character and looks. Although it helps to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog,
there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

In those sentence, i wonder whether ' to study bloodlines~ the dog ' is a subject or not. (like, it is interesting to study English)
the reason i ask you is it seems to be an object (that is 'it' looks like a subject of the sentence.)

Thanks....

[Clark]

It's an object

[ongetz]

If this is the object, what is the subject?

[Clark]

If this is the object, what is the subject?

The subject is 'it'.

[tzfujimino]

I have a question.

No two people are alike; no two dogs are alike. We often see in the same family an almost entirely
different makeup in character and looks. Although it helps to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog,
there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

In those sentence, i wonder whether ' to study bloodlines~ the dog ' is a subject or not. (like, it is interesting to study English)
the reason i ask you is it seems to be an object (that is 'it' looks like a subject of the sentence.)

Thanks....

I'm not a native speaker of English, so please take it as my personal opinion.

I think..."it" in this sentence is callled 'preparatory it.'
But I'm not sure about the grammatical(linguistical) term for "to study bloodlines....the dog" in English.

[Clark]

I'm not a native speaker of English, so please take it as my personal opinion.

I think..."it" in this sentence is callled 'preparatory it.'
But I'm not sure about the grammatical(linguistical) term for "to study bloodlines....the dog" in English.

I don't think so. The pronoun 'it' stands for the fact mentioned in the previous sentence.
When 'it' is used as a preparatory (introductory, anticipatory) subject, there is also another subject in the sentence, called a notional one.
e.g. It is easy to understand him.
'It' - introductory syubject.
'to understand' - notional subject.
Such sentences can easily be paraphrased: 'To understand him is easy'.
The sentence in the original post is different.
'Although it helps to study (smth)'
You can't make the infinitive 'to study' the subject of the sentence. So what is the preparatory role of 'it' then about?

[tzfujimino]

I have a question.

No two people are alike; no two dogs are alike. We often see in the same family an almost entirely
different makeup in character and looks. Although it helps to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog,
there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

Well, Clark, what I interpreted from the sentence above is...

"helps", in this case, is an intransitive verb.(so, there's no object in this sentence, I guess.) It means something like "be helpful."

Although it helps to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog,

Although to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog helps,

Although to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog is helpful,
there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

I might be wrong, but what do you think, Clark?

[Soup]

Starting a clause with an absolute noun phrase feels kind of awkward, and the reason speakers add an expletive/empty subject:

Although it helps to study bloodlines and (to) see the parents of the dog, there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

Although to study bloodlines and to see the parents of the dog helps, there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

Note, you can just as well us a gerund. After all, subjects are nominals, right?

Although studying bloodlines and seeing the parents of the dog helps, there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

[tzfujimino]

Starting a clause with an absolute noun phrase feels kind of awkward, and the reason speakers add an expletive/empty subject:

Although it helps to study bloodlines and (to) see the parents of the dog, there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

Although to study bloodlines and to see the parents of the dog helps, there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

Note, you can just as well us a gerund. After all, subjects are nominals, right?

Although studying bloodlines and seeing the parents of the dog helps, there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

Yes, I agree!

[Clark]

Well, Clark, what I interpreted from the sentence above is...

"helps", in this case, is an intransitive verb.(so, there's no object in this sentence, I guess.) It means something like "be helpful."

Although it helps to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog,

Although to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog helps,

Although to study bloodlines and see the parents of the dog is helpful,
there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had.

I might be wrong, but what do you think, Clark?

You are right, Tzfujimino. I misunderstood the sentence.