Download Subjects and predicates

By : Alexis Kitchens
Every complete sentence contains a
subject and a predicate
 Understanding subject and predicates
are the key to good sentence writing.
Both being very important parts of
sentences.
 Ex: Samantha collects reptiles
 In the sentence shown above there is
both a subject and a predicate
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Subjects
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One of the most familiar grammatical functions
is the subject
The subject is what(or whom) the sentence is
about
You find the subject by first finding the verb
and stating a question of “who” or “what”
before it
Ex: The Brown cows grazed in the meadow
The verb is grazed therefore the subject is
the underlined word, Brown cows
The subject is the element which performs the
“action” denoted by the verb
Predicates
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The predicate tells something about the
subject
The predicate usually comes after the subjects
The predicate might tell you what the subject
did, does, or will do.
The predicate might also give a describtion of
the subject
Ex: The audience littered the theatre floor.
In the example above the predicate is the
bolded part ,“littered the theatre floor”
Simple subject
Every subject is built around one noun or
pronoun(or more) when all other words are
removed the simple subject is left
 Ex: The four happy , playful children
walked to the park.
 The simple subject in the example above
is children but subject is “four happy,
playful children”
 As shown he adjectives that described the
subject were taken away to find the simple
subject
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Compound subject
A compound subject is when two or
more nouns are the subject
 The individual elements in a compound
subject are joined by coordinating
conjunction(words like and/or)
 Ex: The pigeon and the falcon flew from
view
 The compound subject in the sentence
above is pigeon and the falcon
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Simple predicate
Simple predicate is always the verb or
verbs that link up with the subject
 Ex: Jordan slept on the couch
 The predicate is slept on the couch
while the simple predicate is the verb
“slept”
 The simple predicate is the key word in
the predicate part of the sentence
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Compound predicate
A compound predicate is more than
one verb relating to the same subject
 Is connected by and ,but or nor
(coordinating conjunction)
 Ex: Rangers explore and protect the
forest
 The compound predicate is “explore
and protect the forest” since the verbs
explore and protect share the same
subject , rangers
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Sited sources
"College of Arts and Sciences." The Writing Center
Fragments and Runons Comments. N.p., n.d.
Web. 26 Aug. 2013.
 "Subjects and Predicates Multiple-Choice
Exercise." Subjects and Predicates MultipleChoice Exercise. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.
 "Subject and Predicate." Subject and Predicate.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.
 "Common Menu Bar Links." Parts of a Sentence:
Subject and Predicate. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug.
2013.
 "Punctuation." Compound Subject (grammar
Lesson). N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2013.
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