http://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/bien-well/fra-eng/grammairegrammar/subjctpredct-eng.

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http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/definitions.htm
http://www.dailygrammar.com/

Parts of a Sentence: Subject and Predicate

Everything from an atom to a zucchini has parts. And a sentence is no exception. Any
complete sentence has two main parts, called the subject and the predicate.

What is the subject?

The subject of a sentence is simply what or whom the sentence is about. It usually comes
before the predicate. For example, consider this sentence:

Samantha collects reptiles.

This sentence is about a person with an unusual hobbySamantha. Samantha is therefore

the subject of the sentence. Here's another example:

My girlfriend's boa constrictor seems restless this morning.

What is this sentence about? It's about my girlfriend's boa constrictor. The boa constrictor is
therefore the subject of the sentence.
Some sentences that give commands might look as if they don't contain a subject:

Come in, please.

In the example above, there is no visible subject. But don't be fooled: the subject in such a
sentence is the pronoun you. Normally, the subject in a command is left out, or invisible.
When we do express the subject you in a command, it's most often a sign of strong
irritation:

You get that fish hook out of my aquarium right now!

What is the predicate?

The predicate is the part of the sentence that makes a statement about the subject. The
main part of the predicate is the verb.
The predicate usually comes after the subject. Once you find the subject, you can easily find
the predicate. Just ask yourself what the sentence is telling you about the subject.

The predicate might tell you what the subject did (or does, or will do). Let's take another
look at our first example:

Samantha collects reptiles.

In this sentence, as you know, the subject is Samantha. The predicate collects reptilestells
you what Samantha does. The verb here is the action verb collects.
The predicate might also give a description of the subject, as in our second example:

My girlfriend's boa constrictor seems restless this morning.

Here, seems restless this morning gives a description of the subject boa constrictor. The
verb is the linking verb seems, which merely links the description to the subject, without
expressing any action.
The predicates we have seen have all been two or more words long. But sometimes, the
predicate is simply a verb by itself:

Jean-Marc sneezed.

In the above example, Jean-Marc is the subject, and the verb sneezed is the predicate.

Does the subject always come before the

predicate?
No, the subject isn't always first. There are three situations in which the subject appears
after the verb instead of before it.
1. In most questions:

Are you ready?

(The subject you appears after the verb are.)

Did I forget to feed my iguana again?

(The subject I is placed after the first half of the verb did forget.)

2. In many sentences beginning with here or there:

Here comes the jury.

(The subject jury appears after the verb comes.)

There were fifteen cats and an eviction notice on Janet's front porch.
(The subject fifteen cats and an eviction notice is placed after the verbwere.)

3. In some sentences beginning with one or more prepositional phrases:

Across the clearing and through the stream ran the frightened deer.
(The subject deer comes after the verb ran.)

Being able to recognize subjects and predicates is a useful skill, because they are the
building blocks of complete sentences.

Predicates
Apredicateisthecompleterofasentence.Thesubjectnamesthe"doer"or
"beer"ofthesentence;thepredicatedoestherestofthework.Asimple
predicateconsistsofonlyaverb,verbstring,orcompoundverb:

Theglaciermelted.

Theglacierhasbeenmelting.

Theglaciermelted,brokeapart,andslippedintothesea.

Acompoundpredicateconsistsoftwo(ormore)suchpredicatesconnected:

Theglacierbegantoslipdownthemountainsideandeventuallycrushedsomeof
thevillage'soutlyingbuildings.

Acompletepredicateconsistsoftheverbandallaccompanyingmodifiersand
otherwordsthatreceivetheactionofatransitiveverborcompleteitsmeaning.The
followingdescriptionofpredicatescomesfromTheLongmanHandbookforWriters
andReaders(examplesourown):
With an intransitiveverb, objects and complements are included in the predicate. (The glacier is
melting.) With a transitiveverb, objects and objectcomplements are said to be part of the
predicate. (The slow moving glacier wiped out an entire forest. It gave the villagers a lot of
problems.) With a linkingverb, the subject is connected to a subjectcomplement. (The
mayor doesn't feel good.)

Apredicateadjectivefollowsalinkingverbandtellsussomethingaboutthe
subject:

Ramonitaisbeautiful.

Hisbehaviorhasbeenoutrageous.

Thatgarbageonthestreetsmellsbad.

Apredicatenominativefollowsalinkingverbandtellsus
whatthesubjectis:
Click on "Mr.
Morton" to read
and hear Lynn
Sheusedtobethetallestgirlontheteam.
Ahren's "The
Tale of Mr.
Direct and Indirect Objects
Morton," and
learn all about
Adirectobjectisthereceiverofactionwithinasentence,asin subjects and
simple
"Hehittheball."Becarefultodistinguishbetweenadirectobject
predicates
andanobjectcomplement:
(from
Scholastic
TheynamedtheirdaughterNatasha.
Rock).
Schoolhouse
Inthatsentence,"daughter"isthedirectobjectand"Natasha"isthe
Rock and its
objectcomplement,whichrenamesordescribesthedirectobject.
characters
andother
Theindirectobjectidentifiestoorforwhomorwhattheaction elements are
trademarks and
oftheverbisperformed.Thedirectobjectandindirectobjectare
service marks
differentpeopleorplacesorthings.Thedirectobjectsinthe
of American
sentencesbelowareinboldface;theindirectobjectsareinitalics.
Broadcasting
Companies,
TheinstructorgavehisstudentsA's.
Inc. Used with
permission.
GrandfatherleftRosalitaandRaoulallhismoney.

Dr.Couchworthyisactingpresidentoftheuniversity.

JoBobsoldmeherboat.

Incidentally,thewordme(andsimilarobjectformpronounssuchashim,us,them)is
notalwaysanindirectobject;itwillalsoserve,sometimes,asadirectobject.

Blessme/her/us!

Callme/him/themifyouhavequestions.

InEnglish,nounsandtheiraccompanyingmodifiers(articlesandadjectives)do
notchangeformwhentheyareusedasobjectsorindirectobjects,astheydoinmany
otherlanguages."Theradioisonthedesk"and"Iborrowedtheradio"containexactly
thesamewordformusedforquitedifferentfunctions.Thisisnottrueofpronouns,

however,whichusedifferentformsfordifferentfunctions.(He[subject]loveshis
grandmother.Hisgrandmotherloveshim[object].)(See,also,pronouncases.)

Complements
Sincethispageisaboutthecompletersofthoughts,itisappropriatetoincludea
briefdescriptionofcomplements.Acomplement(noticethespellingoftheword)is
anywordorphrasethatcompletesthesenseofasubject,anobject,oraverb.Asyou
willsee,theterminologydescribingpredicatesandcomplementscanoverlapandbea
bitconfusing.Studentsareprobablywisetolearnonesetofterms,notboth.

Asubjectcomplementfollowsalinkingverb;itisnormallyanadjectiveora
nounthatrenamesordefinesinsomewaythesubject.
o Aglacierisahugebodyofice.
o Glaciersarebeautifulandpotentiallydangerousatthesametime.
o Thisglacierisnotyetfullyformed.(verbformactingasanadjective,
aparticiple)
Adjectivecomplementsarealsocalledpredicateadjectives;nouncomplementsare
alsocalledpredicatenounsorpredicatenominatives.Seepredicates,above.

Anobjectcomplementfollowsandmodifiesorreferstoadirectobject.Itcanbe
anounoradjectiveoranywordactingasanounoradjective.
o TheconventionnamedDogbreathVicePresidenttokeephimhappy.
(Thenoun"VicePresident"complementsthedirectobject
"Dogbreath";theadjective"happy"complementstheobject"him.")
o Theclowngotthechildrentooexcited.(Theparticiple"excited"
complementstheobject"children.")

Averbcomplementisadirectorindirectobjectofaverb.(Seeabove.)
o GrannyleftRaoulallhermoney.(Both"money"[thedirectobject]
and"Raoul"[theindirectobject]aresaidtobetheverbcomplements
ofthissentence.)

Lesson 114

Parts of the Sentence - Subject/Verb, Predicate Nominatives, Direct Objects

A simple sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought, and it must

have a subject and a verb (predicate - some grammar books use the word predicate,
but I will use verb). A verb shows action or state of being. Examples: The
bell rang. The boy is here. The subject tells who or what about the verb. Examples:
The bell rang. The boy is here. When finding the subject and the verb in a sentence,
always find the verb first and then say who or what followed by the verb. Example:
The bell rang. Find the verb - rang. Now say who or what rang? Bell rang. Bell is the
subject.

A predicate nominative or predicate noun completes a linking verb and renames the
subject. It is a complement orcompleter because it completes the verb. Predicate
nominatives complete only linking verbs. The linking verbs include the following: the
helping verbs is, am, are, was, were, be, being, and been; the sense verbs look, taste,
smell, feel,and sound; and verbs like become, seem, appear, grow, continue,
stay, and turn. The verb in a sentence having apredicate nominative can always be
replaced by the word equals. Examples: Mr. Johanson is a teacher. Mr.
Johansonequals a teacher. A predicate nominative will never be in a prepositional
phrase.

A direct object receives the action performed by the subject. The verb is always
an action verb. Another way of saying it is that the subject does the verb to the direct
object. Example: The car hit the tree. To find the direct object, say the subject and
verb followed by whom or what. The car hit whom or what? Tree answers the question
so tree is thedirect object. If nothing answers the question whom or what, you know
that there is no direct object. Example: The car sped past. The car sped whom or
what? Nothing answers the question so the sentence has no direct object. Thedirect
object must be a noun or pronoun. A direct object will never be in a prepositional
phrase.

Instructions: Find the subjects, verbs, predicate nominatives, and direct objects in
these sentences.

1. Wow! There goes a yellow-bellied marmot.

2. Ferrets eat prairie dogs and have been reintroduced into some areas.

3. Some endangered animals are the cheetah, the meercats, and some marmosets.

4. My father and I cut and sawed the tree but never killed it.

5. You need more sleep and less television watching.

--For answers scroll down.

Answers:

1. marmot = subject / goes = verb

2. ferrets = subject / eat = verb / prairie dogs = direct object // have been reintroduced
= verb

3. animals = subject / are = verb / cheetah, meercats, marmosets = predicate

nominatives

4. father, I = subjects / cut, sawed = verbs / tree = direct object // killed = verb / it =
direct object

5. you = subject / need = verb / sleep, watching = direct objects