What is the subject and verb for this sentence - When he ran, the boy lost his breath.

Answer: Boy (subject), Ran (Verb)

Explanation:

Because a subject is a person, place, thing, or idea. And the boy is a person so therfore he is the subject. The verb is an action. So when it says the boy ran what is he doing, running. So therfore ran is the verb.

Well, technically, there are two of each as shown below.

Explanation:

he + ran

boy + lost

If you had to choose only ONE pair as the answer, then go with "boy + lost" because they are contained in the main (independent) clause of the entire sentence. The entire sentence is actually a complex sentence because it is composed of a dependent (subordinating) clause + an independent (main) clause.

Does that make sense?