2.2 The Subject

The subject of a sentence is usually a noun or noun phrase that performs the action within the sentence. In passive sentences, the subject is the recipient of the action.

When the subject is expressed by a phrase, it is very important to keep together the words that form the subject

The formulas for the uniaxial and hydrostatic stress-strain relationship given by Eqs. 49 and 50 are based on a model consisting of an infinite number of elastoplastic elements connected in parallel.

However, if it is possible, overlong subjects should be avoided. It is difficult for the reader to process a long structure without losing the sense of the sentence as a whole. In such cases, it is much better to re-formulate the sentence. One way of doing this is to turn the verb into a noun, which then forms the subject of the sentence. This new subject is short and the new verb, which is often in the passive, is introduced as early as possible and is not left dangling at the end of the sentence.

overlong subject	In this article, the results of the studies into the role of different parts of the society in applying several types of economic incentives for waste management are summarized.
improved sentence	In this article, a summary is given of the results of studies into the role of different parts of society in applying (розщеплений підмет / split subject).

Such a reconstruction, as we can see from the example, may result in a so-called split subject, which consists of a noun and its right-side attribute, separated by the predicate.

An attempt was used to prevent distortion.

At the same time it is not correct to say that the subject can be expressed only by a noun. There are also numerals, pronouns, infinitives and gerunds, as well as subordinate clauses, introduced by conjunctions that, if, whether, relative pronouns who, what, which, how, where, why, when etc.

What I have just said is of great importance.

Besides, the subject may be implicit: as is typical of that period, the approaches combine…

The other type of the subject found in scientific texts is anaphoric subject, expressed by anaphoric pronouns this/these, that/those (which are the ones that make a reference to some preceding statement, utterances or texts).

The specificity of the scientific prose is the use of inanimate subject as a doer of the action, usually performed by a human: the examples show, the theory proves, the story tells…

The peculiarities of subjects in English scientific texts are as follows:

- the pronoun “there” used as a grammatical subject (formal) with some verbs, esp be, when the true subject is an indefinite or mass noun phrase following the verb as complement (in constructions there is / are / was / were, etc):

There has been relatively little examination of the effect of mode on subcritical crack growth.

- the indefinite pronoun “one”, sometimes also used as a substitute pronoun

- the pronoun “it” used as a personal one (in reference to a nonhuman, animal, plant, or inanimate thing, or sometimes to a small baby), as a demonstrative one (meaning “this”), as an impersonal one (formal, having no lexical meaning)

- the personal pronouns “we, you, they” referring to unspecified people or people in general not including the speaker or people addressed (indefinite reference, unlike the definite one of those pronouns).