This post helps you understand what a complete subject is, and how it is formed.
What is a complete subject in English?
A complete subject in English is a combination of a simple subject and the word or words that modify it. It is a group of words that tells us who performs the action in the sentence or who/what the sentence is about.

Examples:
1 The meeting has been canceled.
Simple subject = meeting
Modifier = the
Complete subject = the meeting
2. Your performance was really amazing.
Simple subject = performance
Modifier = your
Complete subject = your performance
3. The man living in this apartment is a famous singer.
Simple subject = man
Modifiers = the, living in this apartment
Complete subject = the man living in this apartment
4. Some people never give up.
Simple subject = people
Modifiers = some
Complete subject = some people
5. Some beautiful Chinese girls came to meet us.
Simple subject = girls
Modifiers = some, beautiful, Chinese
Complete subject = some beautiful Chinese girls
6. The man in the blue coat teaches History here.
Simple subject = man
Modifiers = the, in the blue coat
Complete subject = the man in the blue coat
How to form a complete subject in English?
A complete subject is formed using a simple subject and pre and post-modifiers. Here are the ways to form a complete subject:
- Pre-modifier/s + simple subject
- Simple subject + post-modifier/s
- Pre-modifier/s + simple subject + post-modifier/s
Pre-modifier + simple subject
A pre-modifier is a word or words that come before a simple subject (noun) and modify it. It includes the following:
- Determiners
- Adjectives
Determiners include the followings:
- Articles (a, an, the)
- Possessive adjective (my, your, his, her…)
- Demonstrative adjective (this, that, these, those)
- Distributive adjective (each, either, neither…)
- Quantifiers (some, many, a few, much…)
- Numbers (first, second, one, two…)
Examples:
- A man died here last night.
Simple subject = man
Pre-modifier = a (article)
Complete subject = a man
- The movie was amazing.
Simple subject = movie
Pre-modifier = the (article)
Complete subject = the movie
- Your house is beautiful.
Simple subject = house
Pre-modifier = your (possessive adjective)
Complete subject = your house
- Some students just left the class.
Simple subject = students
Pre-modifier = some (quantifier)
Complete subject = some students
- That man dances amazingly well.
Simple subject = man
Pre-modifier = that (demonstrative adjective)
Complete subject = that man
- Neither girl deserves to be on the team.
Simple subject = girl
Pre-modifier = neither (distributive adjective)
Complete subject = neither girl
- Every deserving student will get a chance to win the scholarship.
Simple subject = student
Pre-modifiers = every (distributive adjective), deserving (present participle adjective)
Complete subject = every deserving student
Simple subject + post-modifier/s
A post-modifier is a word or a group of words (phrase or clause) that comes after a noun or pronoun and modifies it. It includes the following:
- Prepositional phrase
- Infinitive phrase
- Present participle phrase
- Past participle phrase
- Adjective clause
Examples:
- Everything that is here costs a lot of money.
Simple subject = everything
Post-modifier = that is here (adjective clause)
Complete subject = everything that is here
- Betrayal of any sort is not expected from you.
Simple subject = betrayal
Post-modifier = of any sort (prepositional phrase)
Complete subject = betrayal of any sort
NOTE: a noun phrase using a noun and a postmodifier is less common. Generally, we use a premodifier before the noun when it has a postmodifier after it. That’s the third way of forming a complete subject (noun phrase).
Premodifier + simple subject + post-modifier/s
This is another way to form a complete subject. Here, the head noun (simple subject) is surrounded by a premodifier and a postmodifier.
Examples:
- The man in the blue jacket is a dancer.
Simple subject = man
Pre-modifier = the (definite article)
Post-modifier = in the blue jacket (prepositional phrase)
Complete subject = the man in the blue jacket
- Some students living in this building are giving online classes.
Simple subject = students
Pre-modifier = some (quantifier)
Post-modifier = living in this building (present participle phrase)
Complete subject = some students living in this building
- The right man to call right now is Jon, the sales guy.
Simple subject = man
Pre-modifiers = The (definite article), right (adjective)
Post-modifier = to call right now (infinitive phrase)
Complete subject = some students living in this building
- The car stolen from this slot yesterday belonged to a very rich man.
Simple subject = car
Pre-modifiers = The (definite article)
Post-modifier = stolen from this slot yesterday (past participle phrase)
Complete subject = the car stolen from this slot yesterday
- A man who runs daily has fewer chances to have diseases than a man who does not.
Simple subject = man
Pre-modifiers = a (indefinite article)
Post-modifier = who runs daily (adjective clause)
Complete subject = a man who runs daily
More examples of complete subjects:
- Some people never learn from their mistakes.
- One of your friends called me last night.
- Some of these flats are in very bad condition.
- Either man is good for this job.
- This batch of mine has a lot of great minds.
- Many people from this area have multiple houses.
- People who never give up never lose the game.
- The guy standing next to your car has been chasing me for some days.
Important points to note about a complete subject
1. A complete subject, generally, is a noun phrase formed using a regular noun.
2. It can’t be a word. It has to be more than a word: a noun and its modifier.
3. There are three ways to form a complete subject in English:
- Premodifier + noun
- Noun + postmodifier
- Premodifier + noun + postmodifier
4. The head word of a complete subject can be a pronoun either.
PRACTICE SET 1
Identify the complete subject in the following sentences:
- The man at the bar wanted me out.
- An old man once said to me, “Mortality is powerful.”
- This movie is going to do well.
- None of us knows what’s going on.
- Fortunately, my best friend was there to help me.
Answers:
- The man at the bar
- An old man
- This movie
- None of us
- my best friend
PRACTICE SET 2
Identify the complete subject in the following sentences:
- One of my friends who came to the party thrown by Jon has many businesses across India.
- Do any of you know a good place here?
- The man looking at us right now is a friend of the guy who threatened us yesterday at the library.
- The right thing to do is to go there and say sorry to Riya.
- The bag under the desk is not mine.
Answers:
- One of my friends who came to the party thrown by Jon
- any of you
- The man looking at us right now
- The right thing to do
- The bag under the desk
FAQs
Now, we know everything about dependent clauses . Feel free to share your question, doubt, or feedback in the comment section, and also, share the post with the people that need it.
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Thanks for this informative blog.
Glad you liked it, Poonam!
Very useful information out there! Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, Michael.