Final answer:
The simple subject in the sentence provided is 'Taylor's induction.' The term 'simple subject' refers to the main noun of the sentence minus any modifiers or additional phrases. Understanding subject/verb agreement is crucial in identifying simple subjects, which dictates that singular subjects pair with singular verbs and plural subjects with plural verbs.
Step-by-step explanation:
The simple subject in the sentence 'Taylor's induction into the bicycling hall of fame came after 117 wins in 168 races' is 'Taylor's induction.' In this sentence, the simple subject refers to the main noun that the sentence is about, without including any of the modifying elements or additional phrases that may be present. The word 'Taylor's' serves as a possessive modifier indicating that the induction belongs to Taylor; however, the key noun—or the simple subject—is 'induction.'
Understanding the simple subject is essential for ensuring subject/verb agreement within a sentence. This agreement is a fundamental rule of syntax that requires a singular subject to be paired with a singular verb, and a plural subject with a plural verb. In the given sentence, 'came' is the verb that corresponds to the singular subject 'induction.'
It's important to distinguish the simple subject from the complete subject, which includes all the words that modify the simple subject. For example, in the sentence 'The rapid beat of hoofs recalled Jane Withersteen to the question at hand,' 'The rapid beat' is the complete subject with 'beat' being the simple subject.
Review Question Example
To further illustrate the concept, let's look at a review question: 'We went to the bowling alley on Friday.' The simple subject here is 'We,' and the verb is 'went.' The phrase 'to the bowling alley on Friday' is an optional adverbial, providing additional information about where and when 'we' went.