English
Grammar
Subject and Predicate
In our schools, we have learnt about
the different parts of a sentence. These parts give each word a job. Every
complete sentence needs two things: a subject and a predicate.
Subject - The subject of a sentence is, what
(or whom) the sentence is about. In other words, Subject is that element of a
sentence, which performs the "action" denoted by the verb:
Examples:
· David plays the piano.
‘David’ is the subject of the
sentence, because he is performing the action of playing the piano.
· The police interviewed all the witnesses
· The dogs were barking loudly.
· The pretty girl was wearing a blue frock.
· My younger brother serves in the army.
· The man and his wife were working in their garden.
· My mother and my aunt are trained classical dancers.
· You don’t have to wait for me.
· We will no longer tolerate this.
· The little tree was covered with needles instead of
leaves.
· A rich merchant was passing by the shoemaker’s window.
Predicate - A predicate is the part of a
sentence, or a clause, that tells what the subject is doing or what the subject
is.
Examples:
· Jacob is sleeping in the sun.
‘sleeping in the sun’ is the
predicate, because it’s dictating what Jacob is doing.
· Mr. Clinton is teaching Algebra to
the students.
· Monkeys are playing around in the
garden.
· Oxygen is essential for life on
earth.
· John F. Kennedy was elected as US President
in 1960.
· Honesty is the best policy.
· Horses are majestic animals.
· The Earth revolves around the sun.
· Borrowed-garments never fit well.
· All matter is destructible.
· No man can serve two masters.
· The greatest similarity between India
and China is that they both have huge population.
**The difference between a subject and a predicate is that the
subject will always be a noun or pronoun and the predicate will contain a verb
in addition to a possible modifier.
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