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John liao Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

missing subject? New concept english 3.3

Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted.

I suppose that represented agree with each of these, but what's the subject of verb painted?
  

Top answer

The subject is again "Each of these". Each of these ... had ...

— GPY

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5 Answers
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The subject is again "Each of these".

Each of these ... had ... been painted.
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GPY, how do we identify the subject in a sentence like that one?
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Perfect StrangerGPY, how do we identify the subject in a sentence like that one?
Well, for one thing, there is only one possible candidate.

In "I fell down the stairs and broke my leg", I guess you would have no problem with "I" being the subject of both "fell" and "broke", right? The sentence "Each of these..." has a similar structure in that one sub
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Thanks GPY. I keep forgetting that the best way to identify the subject is by looking for the words that are governed by it.
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I should point out, also, that it is possible to interpret "painted" as an adjective rather than as a passive verb.
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