Is there no subject in a sentence like "Under the tree is a dog"?

Question

I was trying to find out sentences without a subject, only object, and I came across
this
where the poster gives following sentences as an example

Under the tree is a dog.
  Next to the park stands a clock tower.
  Underneath his jacket was his white tucked in t-shirt and jeans.
  Deep beneath the sea lies the mysterious kingdom of Captain Nemo.

Aren't the subjects in them: "the tree", "the park", "jacket", and "the sea" respectively?

user31341 · Accepted Answer

These are all examples of locative inversion, where the subject and the prepositional phrase shift their normal positions. Usually the subject is at the beginning of the sentence, but not in these examples.

if you want to look into the topic of sentences without subjects, see the classic paper Quang (1971) on English imperatives.

Brian Donovan · Answer

Dog, tower, t-shirt, and kingdom are the grammatical subjects of the main verbs of these four sentences&mdash;what is, stands, was, and lies&mdash;and thus of the sentences themselves.

Celso de Carvalho · Answer

The correct position:
Under the tree is a dog.
     THere is a dog under the tree.
Next to the park stands a clock tower.
  The clock tower stands next to the park.
Underneath his jacket was his white tucked in t-shirt and jeans.
 His white t-shirt and jeans were tucked in underneath his jacket.
Deep beneath the sea lies the mysterious kingdom of Captain Nemo
 The mysterious kingdom of Captain Nemo  lies deep down the see.

Is there no subject in a sentence like "Under the tree is a dog"?

3 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question