Subject - Onderwerp

A subject carries out the action of the verb. It can take the shape of a single noun, a pronoun, or a noun group, as the sentences below show.

Alan houdt van muziek.
Alan loves music.
Hij houdt van muziek.
He loves music
De meeste vrienden van Alan houden van muziek.
Most of Alan's friends love music.

As the above examples also show, the subject influences the form of the verb. A singular subject needs a singular verb form, and a subject in the plural needs a plural conjugation. This is called agreement: subject and verb have to agree with each other.