Which term refers to the main word or word group that tells whom or what the sentence is about?

• A. Complete subject
• B. Complete predicate
• C. Simple subject
• D. Simple predicate

Answer: (C)

This question targets identifying the subject of a sentence—the simple subject. The subject is who or what the sentence is about, and the simple subject is the main noun or pronoun at the core of that subject, without any modifiers. The complete subject, by contrast, includes every word that describes or limits that noun.

For example, in a sentence like “The tall firefighter rushed in,” the complete subject is “The tall firefighter,” while the simple subject is just “firefighter.” The other term distinctions follow the same idea: the simple predicate is the main verb, and the complete predicate includes the verb plus its modifiers.