Doer or cause
Who or what makes it happen?
Betekenis
The doer or cause is the person or thing that carries out an action or makes something happen. It can be a person acting on purpose or something such as wind bringing about a change. Languages show this role through word order, endings, or context, and not all have a special marker for it. Cause explains why something happens, while this block identifies who or what brings it about.
Zo herken je het
Ask who carries out the action or what brings about the event, rather than assuming it is the first person or thing mentioned.
In de taal die je leert
In an ordinary English statement about an action, the doer or cause is usually the subject and comes before the verb. The subject can be a person, an animal, or a thing. In a passive sentence, which presents an action from the receiving side, the doer can appear after by or remain unnamed.
Tom washed the dishes.
Tom carries out the action and is the subject.
The sun melted the snow.
The sun causes the change without acting on purpose.
We moved the table.
We names the people who carried out the action.
Learners whose language allows flexible word order may move the doer after the verb and change the meaning or produce an unusual sentence. Learners whose language allows an understood subject to remain unspoken may omit a subject that English requires.