Do you teach English? I've a question for you.?

Question

In the question "Whose book is it?" why do you need to write the subject pronoun it again? Is book not enough to know what we are talking about? and one more question, in the sentences "around the peach trees are many bumblebees" can I say "there are many bumblebees", what is the difference, and would many bumblebees still be the subject? Is "there" every the subject of a sentence?

Thank you very much for your great help

Answer 1

"Whose" is a possessive pronoun, not a subject pronoun. The subject pronoun is "it." When the sentence is read as a statement, it reads "It is *whose* book" with "whose" being replaced by his, her, or Jim's, all of which are possessive pronouns.

"There" is being used to show location. Reversing the order of the sentence, it would properly read "There are many bumblebees around the the peach trees."

If you chose to change the statement using "there," you'd have to change the punctuation. "Around the peach trees, there are many bumblebees." The subject would then be "there;" the comma would show that you've reversed word order.

"There" is not the subject of every sentence.

Answer 2

"It" is needed in your first example because of the verb "is".  You couldn't just say, "Whose book is?"  you need the pronoun to describe the subject after the verb.  This is partially because of the question form.  The answer would be, "The book is mine."  or "It is mine."  Notice there is no need for a repetition of the subject.  With questions we invert the standard subject-verb form and therefore clarification is needed (read on for more about this). "Is it?" vs. "It is."

"Around the peach trees" is a prepositional phrase.  

Around = preposition, trees = the object of the preposition.

Everything else in the phrase is an adjective describing trees.  Prepositions are words that show location in place and time.  Prepositional phrases are needed to give more information (as another poster commented).  If you just said, "There are many bumblebees."  We are left to wonder "Where?"  

"Bumblebees" would be the subject in both sentences that you offer up.  However, "many" is not part of the subject.  "Many" is an adjective describing the bumblebees.  

In day to day conversation such grammar rules don't always apply, you can say, "Whose book?" as you hold it up to a group of people.  You can indicate towards the peach trees and say, "There are many bumblebees."  But in writing these thoughts need to be clearer. Therefore, you need the subject pronoun and the prepositional phrase.

As for "there".  It can never be a subject as it is an adverb, and THAT is a whole other grammar lesson!  

Answer 3

About Whose book is it? I think the pronoun "it" is just pertaining to where was the book located or what kind of book was that?

Eg. if you used the question without "it"...

From x: Whose book?

The person who you talked with will think if there's no presence of book in the scene or she/he doesn't know about the book, what was that book or where was that book?

Second question...

You can say it without the peach tree but the thought of where were the bumblebees, is not specified... Again it is telling of the location...

I guess... I'm not a teacher...

A 10th grade...

Answer 4

you could say "who does this book belong to?"  whose book is it - sounds more like the way we speak.

in your second sentence, there is an extra word. we know you are taking about the area of the peach tree so you don't need to say "there"

Answer 5

"it" isn't the subject pronoun, it' s the predicate nominative after the linking verb, is. It restates the subject in order to complete the the sentence. Put into a declarative sentence, "It is whose book?" Predicate nominatives agree with their subjects in number, case, and gender.

The first bumblebee sentence sounds awkward because it starts with "around." The sentences mean the same, but the thought would better be expressed by leaving out the "there" and just saying "Many bumblebees are around the peach trees."

No, not every sentence starts w/there, it's a filler would unless it is used to point out something - "there she is."