What is the subject of this sentence?

[dqdqf]

Hi,

Please take a look at the following question and tell me which is the subject and which is the object. Many thanks!

QUESTION: What is your name?

I understand this is an object question because an auxiliary verb (is) is used. However, I am not familiar with the parts of speech of object questions. Is "your name" the subject and "what" the object? So for object questions the order is OBJECT+AUXILIARY VERB+SUBJECT? And I guess for other object questions like "What did you do?", the structure would be OBJECT+AUXILIARY VERB+SUBJECT+MAIN VERB?

Interrogative pronouns or question words CAN serve as the object in a question, right? Your help is greatly appreciated!

DQ

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


What is your name?


(1) I believe that most grammar guides parse that sentence as:

Your name = the subject.

is = the main verb. (It is not an auxiliary in that sentence.)

what = interrogative pronoun serving as a complement (not "object").

(a) a complement "completes." If you said only "What is?," that would not be complete. When you add the

complement "what," then your listener/reader will understand. After linking verbs, grammar guides prefer the

word "complement," not "object." A complement is necessary to complete the meaning: He is intelligent/ nice, etc.

An object is not always necessary: I ate./ I ate an apple/ a donut, etc.



What did you do?

(2) I believe that you are 100% correct.

(a) The regular order is: You did do what?

(i) "what" is the object of the verb "do."

*****

NOTES: Professor George Oliver Curme in Volume I of his masterpiece A Grammar of the English Language says that in "What are their names?," the subject is "What." I do not understand his reasoning. (His comments are on page 171.) I am trying to find out why he calls "what" the subject.

I found very helpful a Google book entitled Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native and Non-Native Speakers (2008) by Ms. Andrea DeCapua. Parts of her book are available on Google "books." Check out her comments on page 252.

If you find out more information on how to parse "What is your name?," I hope that you will share it with all of us.

 

[5jj]

Professor George Oliver Curme in Volume I of his masterpiece A Grammar of the English Language says that in "What are their names?," the subject is "What." I do not understand his reasoning. (His comments are on page 171.) I am trying to find out why he calls "what" the subject.

In the sentence as it stands, 'what' can be taken to be the grammatical subject of the verb 'is'.

 

[Walt Whitman]

English teacher

I believe the subject here is “what”.
Suppose you meet someone whose accent is really fine but you know he’s a foreigner. So you ask, “What is your nationality?” You’re interested in information about the subject of the verb.
The answer may be, “My nationality (SUBJECT) is (VERB) Italian.”

“What did your father watch on TV yesterday?” You’re interested in information about the object.
The answer may be, “He (SUBJECT) watched (VERB) an old film starring Humphrey Bogart. (OBJECT)”

“What happened?” – “Something terrible (SUBJECT) happened (VERB). A lot of people were killed in a terrorist attack.”

“What did you talk about?” – “We (SUBJECT) talked (VERB) about our next trip to New York (OBJECT).

We can also start from the reply and then turn it into the interrogative form with the appropriate question word.

Something is the matter with my brother. = What is the matter with your brother?
Someone called me while I was having a shower. = Who called you?

I hope my suggestions are not absolute rubbish.
WW

 

[TheParser]

In the sentence as it stands, 'what' can be taken to be the grammatical subject of the verb 'is'.

Would you please explain why " what can be taken to be the grammatical subject of the verb is"?

(Sadly, Professor Curme did not explain.)

THANK YOU


P.S. Someone on the Web wrote that "what" is really the syntactic subject and he linked to Google books to prove the point. It goes without saying that those scholarly books were way over my high school-level head.

 

[lux aeterna]

QUESTION: What is your name?

why would you need such info?

would it be possible that 'your' is the subject? (as the answer to 'whose')

it really beats me though!!

 

[5jj]

Would you please explain why " what can be taken to be the grammatical subject of the verb is"?

My book is on the table.
What (thing) is on the table?
Snakes terrify me.
What terrifies you?

Do you have any problem with the underlined words as the subject of the verb?

John is my name
My name is John
What is my name?

I think that what can be taken to be the subject of the verb.

 

[TheParser]

Do you have any problem with the underlined words as the subject of the verb?


What is my name?

I think that what can be taken to be the subject of the verb.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) Thank you VERY MUCH for your reply.

(2) Of course, I cannot understand why, but I also think "what" is the so-called "subject." My reasoning

goes like this: What is your name? (Someone answers:"Mona.") Oh, thanks. Mona is your name. Since "Mona" is

clearly the subject, and "what" is a word that stands in for "Mona" in the same position before the verb "is," I

assume that "what" is the subject. Probably crazy "reasoning" on my part.

(3) Nevertheless, 99.99% of (high-school level) teachers tell us to parse it this way:

What is your name?

Your name is what. (complement position)
My name is Mona. (complement position)

(4) Of course, you and Professor Curme are right.

(5) But why do "99.99%" of high-school teachers teach us differently? If any of the wonderful learners here

wrote on their test that "what" is the subject, they would be marked down. And in many countries, a test

can make or break a student's career.

 

[5jj]

There is no 'of course' about Curme and I (me?/my?) being right. You have to test for yourself, and read what others think

 

[dqdqf]

Hi Walt,

Parts of speech is my biggest weakness, so I thank you and everyone else who has posted here very much for helping me out.

Hmm... please allow me to put in some of my thoughts. I think you're talking about two types of direct questions, object questions and subject questions. Object questions, as I understand, contain an auxiliary verb (be/do/can etc). These questions may be, "what is you name?"; "where were you born?"; "what did you study at college?". In subject questions an auxiliary verb is not used and only either what/which/who can serve as the subject (not any other interrogative pronouns). For example, "what happened?", "which company hired you?", "who loves Juliet?" They pretty much follow the SUBJECT+VERB (+OBJECT) order like a simple English sentence. So it follows if there is an auxiliary verb used in a question then what/which/who cannot be the subject. This is why I don't think the "what" in "what is your name" is the subject as it is an object question to me. Does this make any sense to you?

So after reading everyone's posts, I feel like I'm getting pieces here and there but I still can't put the puzzle together. I am having a hard time convincing myself that the "what" in "what is your name" is the subject. Please let me know what your thoughts are and anyone else can contribute too. Thanks again.

DQ

 

[dqdqf]

Hi TheParser,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply and sharing your references! Please take a look at my post to Walt and I'd love to hear what you think.

DQ

 

[dqdqf]

My book is on the table.
What (thing) is on the table?
Snakes terrify me.
What terrifies you?

Do you have any problem with the underlined words as the subject of the verb?

John is my name
My name is John
What is my name?

I think that what can be taken to be the subject of the verb.

Hi 5jj, Thanks so much for your input!

I agree with you except for the last one. Pls take a look at my reply to Walt and let me know what you think. THANKS!

DQ

 

[Tdol]

(3) Nevertheless, 99.99% of (high-school level) teachers tell us to parse it this way:

What is your name?

Your name is what. (complement position)
My name is Mona. (complement position)

When things get repeated often enough, they can get taken for granted, but do we normally parse a sentence by reversing it? ;-)

 

[5jj]

So it follows if there is an auxiliary verb used in a question then what/which/who cannot be the subject.

How about these? -

Peter is working hard
Who is working hard?
A dog has just run across your lawn.
What has just run across your lawn?

This is why I don't think the "what" in "what is your name" is the subject as it is an object question to me. Does this make any sense to you?

'Is' is not an auxiliary verb in this sentence, and 'what' is definitely not the object of anything.

5

 

[Finicky]

We have to keep in mind the difference between deep structure and surface structure before we commit ourselves to a trustworthy answer.

Deep structure:

Your name is what. = SVC

Surface structure:

What is your name? CVS (what = complement)

Here is an example, where the wh-word serves as the subject:

He likes me. = SVO
Who likes me? = SVO

5jj wrote: I think that what can be taken to be the subject of the verb.

And i think your guesswork hardly helps the cause. Labelling is rarely important, true; however, what is behind labelling matters indeed when we speak about syntax.

 

[5jj]

Deep structure: Your name is what. = SVC

Surface structure: What is your name? CVS (what = complement)

That is one way of analysing this sentence.

5jj wrote: I think that what can be taken to be the subject of the verb.

And [STRIKE]i[/STRIKE] I think your guesswork hardly helps the cause.

What cause might that be?.
If you re-read my post, you will see that I was not 'guessing'. I explained, with example sentences, why I considered that 'what' could be taken to be the subject of the verb.

5

 

[5jj]

Oh dear. I have been leading things way off track . My apologies. When I wrote in post #3, "I think that what can be taken to be the subject of the verb 'is'", I had in mind the question dqdqf started with, "What is your name?".I see now that the question from TheParser to which I was responding was about "What are their names?" The subject of the plural verb 'are' can only be the plural noun 'names'.

My aplogies to all for the confusion caused by my mistake.

I am not deleting my posts, as this would make some of the posts from others meaningless.

 

[TheParser]

I see now that the question from TheParser to which I was responding was about "What are their names?" The subject of the plural verb 'are' can only be the plural noun 'names'.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) But why did my hero, Professor Curme, write that "what" is the subject of "What are their names?"


(2) I am pretty sure that it is not a typo.

(3) In my first post, I gave complete credit to The Great One's book, so I hope that I am obeying the copyright

laws in "generously" quoting him.

1. He says the "pure interrogative what is not inflected." (My emphasis)

2. He says the "grammatical relations are shown by the word order." (My emphasis)

3. He says that what is the "subject before the verb." (My emphasis)

I cite his two examples (the parentheses are his):

What (subject) is worrying you?

What (subject) are their names?

(4) He writes: What (object) does he want?

(5) He writes that what is "often" a predicate [complement?] when it stands "before a linking verb which is followed by

the subject."

(a) His example: What is he? [I guess that he means the sentence is, indeed, he (subject) + is (linking verb) + what (predicate/ complement).]

*****

Professor Curme wrote his masterpiece in 1931. This was before whippersnappers like Professor Chomsky came up with so-called transformational grammar. Of course, I understand NO THING about such things. But as Finicky pointed out in his helpful post, the reasoning goes like this:

Deep/underlying structure: Your name is what.

Fronting wh- word: What your name is.

Inversion rule: What is your name?

Maybe (a big maybe!) Professor Curme (writing before the contorsions of transformational grammar evolved) was simply saying that

if something is in the subject position, it is the subject. As the saying goes: If it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it is a duck.

*****


Bottom line: On a test, make the teachers happy by identifying "your name" and "their names" as the subjects in those two sentences under consideration. The transformationalists have apparently won.