definition of predicate

Answer 1

"It's the basis of ordinary etiquette / to be sure of your subject and your predicate." This lyric from a children's play about acceptable grammar is certainly true; however, not many people can point out the predicate in a sentence (even if they are sure of the subject).

The predicate of a sentence is the part that modifies the subject in some way. Because the subject is the person, place, or thing that a sentence is about, the predicate must contain a verb explaining what the subject does and can also include a modifier.

Examples of Simple Predicates

A simple predicate is the word that shows the action in a sentence. It is used to tell you what the subject of the sentence does. Look at some of the shorter sentences in the English language:

• She danced.

The subject of the sentence is "she," the person being spoken about, but what is being conveyed or expressed about this person? She performed an action, of course; she moved her body; she danced. The word that modifies the subject "she" is the past-tense verb "danced."

• It talked!

It might be a baby saying a word for the first time, a parrot squawking "hello," or even an inanimate object somehow bestowed with the power of speech. What you know about "it" is that, according to the speaker, it spoke. "Talked" modifies the subject "it."

These sentences are very simple examples of what predicates are, since the predicate is expressed entirely by one verb. A simple predicate may also be a short verb phrase.

Some more examples of simple predicates are as follows. The simple predicate is in bold in each example.

• I sing.
• He was cooking dinner.
• We saw the cat outside.
• I walked the dog.
• Anthony wrote to his friend.
• They ate all the candy.
• My aunt moved.
• The house has a new roof.
• Andrew threw the ball.
• He is sad.