Subject of the Sentence Worksheet

Every sentence has two halves, and the subject is the half that names who or what the sentence is about. Fourth graders who can find the complete subject — the main noun plus every word that describes it — read more carefully and write more clearly, because they can see exactly where the naming part of a sentence ends and the telling part begins. This Subject of the Sentence Worksheet gives students focused practice at finding that dividing line in real sentences about gardens, hiking trips, friendly dogs, nesting robins, and a rainy campground.

The page moves through three levels of practice so students build the skill instead of guessing at it. In Part A, students underline the words that tell who or what each sentence is about. In Part B, they write the complete subject on the line under each sentence, which asks them to hold a whole phrase in mind rather than circling one word. In Part C, they invent complete subjects of their own to finish two sentences, including one that needs a plural subject to match its verb. This 4th grade subject and predicate worksheet fits morning work, a grammar warm-up, homework, a small-group lesson, or a quick check before a writing unit.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 12 grammar activities in three parts: 6 sentences to underline, 4 complete subjects to write, and 2 sentences to finish with a subject of their own

Three things make this Subject of the Sentence Worksheet work in a real classroom. First, the sentences use long, layered subjects such as “The tall sunflowers in the garden” and “Every player on the team,” so students cannot succeed by grabbing the first noun they see. Second, the three parts climb from recognizing to producing: underlining is a reading task, writing the subject is a recall task, and inventing a subject is a writing task, so students meet the same idea three different ways. Third, the answer key shows the full subject for every item, which makes it easy to talk about why a phrase starts and stops where it does.

Teachers and parents can stretch the skill past the page in a few minutes. Read a favorite picture book aloud and pause so students can name who or what each sentence is about. Write predicates on sentence strips, then let partners trade and add subjects that make the silliest sentence still make sense. Play a quick sorting game with index cards, half of them subjects and half predicates, and have students match them into sentences that work. During writing time, ask students to underline the subject in their own first three sentences and check that each one really names something.

Related Resources

• Subject Predicate Worksheet
• Who or What? Compound Subjects Worksheet
• Complete Sentences with Subject and Predicate Activity
• Subject and Predicate Song (Have Fun Teaching)