The 6 TYPES of SUBJECTS in Spanish and their FUNCTION

Within grammar, sentences are the constitutive unit of all text. In them, in addition to the verb and complements, the subject is a base part. However, it can appear in a number of ways. In this lesson from a teacher we will learn what are the types of subjects in Spanish and what function they fulfill within sentences.

Before delving into the types of subject, it is pertinent that we make some clarifications. First of all, prayers they are understood as sets of words that express information on an action performed. This implies that we have the union of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to construct this information.

Second, the sentences are sets of words is structured and it has certain certain parts. The relationships between these parts allow us to identify the function that each one fulfills. Thus we can recognize two important sections within the sentence:

Subject: person, animal or thing that performs or on whom falls the action that the sentence enunciates.
Predicate: is the action performed (the verb) and its complements.

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Just as there are types of subjects in Spanish, there are types of complements within the predicate. Let's see in general terms which ones we can find:

Direct plugins, are given when the noun that is after the verb is the object of its action. In other words, in the sentence "John loves his parents", the direct complement of the verb "to love" is "his parents", since it is on whom the action of loving falls. In order to identify them we can ask to what? or To who? the verb falls.
Indirect complements, refers to the person, animal or thing that receives the consequence of the action of the verb. For example, in the sentence "I have a gift for my father", the complement "for my father" is indirect. In order to identify it, we must ask ourselves questions such as what for? OR for whom?
Situational complements, indicates the time, place or mode in which the action of the verb occurs. Whenever we mention the time of day, the day of the week or a place we are making use of circumstantial complements. To recognize them within the sentence we must ask ourselves where? or when? action happens.

Now that we are clear about the parts and structure of a sentence, let's look at an example:

"Pedro throws a ball to his brother in the park"

If we decompose the sentence, on the one hand the subject would be “Pedro” and on the other the predicate would be “throw a ball to his brother in the park”. At the same time, the predicate is made up of the verb "launch" and three complements: a direct one, "a ball"; an indirect one "to his brother"; and a circumstantial one "in the park."

Since we have seen the parts of a sentence, let's dive into subject types that can be found in it. It is worth clarifying that the types of subject are directly related to the participation, expression and number that they may have.

Subjects according to their participation

Within this type we find two classes of subjects:

Agent subject: sentences in active mode, that is, it performs the action of the verb.

Juan eats fruit.
Pepe is celebrating.
They bathe in the sea.

Patient subject: Although this type of subject is considered as a direct object, it occurs when the sentences are in passive mode, that is to say, it suffers the consequences of the action.

A rabbit was hunted by the fox.
A table was repaired by a carpenter.

In this case, the fox is the one who performs the action of hunting the rabbit, but due to the way the sentence is structured, the fox would be a patient subject. Because, although he is the one who performs the action, he occupies the place of being a complement within the sentence.

Subjects according to their expression

The expression of the subject is one of its fundamental qualities, within this type we also find two ways in which it is presented:

Express subject: occurs when the subject explicitly appears in the sentence:

Camila she is at home
Me I have two candies
My father is asleep

Subject tacit: It is when the subject does not appear written in the sentence and we can suppose it by the person in which the verb is conjugated:

I traveled to russia

In this case the unspoken subject is the first person singular "me".

She walked by the park

With this second example, we see that the subject is the third person singular, that is "the" or "her".

Subjects according to their nucleus

The nucleus in the subject is understood as the noun or pronoun that makes up the subject: he, she, I, Pedro, the dog, etc. However, this can be of two types:

Simple subject: occurs when the sentence only has a nucleus, that is, a noun or pronoun.