nonsubject

Nonsubject is a term used in formal linguistics to denote any clause element that is not the grammatical subject of the clause. It contrasts with the subject, which typically governs finite agreement and serves as the main participant of the clause in terms of predication. Nonsubjects fulfill other syntactic functions such as direct object, indirect object, oblique argument, predicative complement, or adjunct.

In English examples help illustrate the idea. In “The dog bit the man,” “the man” is a nonsubject as the direct object. In “She gave her friend a gift,” both “her friend” (indirect object) and “a gift” (direct object) are nonsubjects. In passive constructions like “The ball was thrown by John,” the subject is the patient noun “the ball,” while “by John” is a nonsubject.

Nonsubjects can also include oblique arguments such as locatives or datives in languages with richer case marking. The term is useful in analyses that differentiate core arguments from peripheral ones, particularly in valency theory and dependency grammars.

In languages with pro-drop tendencies or explicit subject marking, subjects may be omitted or implicitly understood, but elements that would be arguments of the verb and are not subjects are still described as nonsubjects in structural analyses. The concept helps describe the full set of participants realized in a clause beyond the subject and is a common tool in descriptive and theoretical syntax.