PARTS OF THE
SENTENCE: SUBJECT AND PREDICATE
A sentence is a grammatically
independent unit of expression, made up of two essential parts called the Subject
and the Predicate.
Every complete sentence has a
subject and a predicate.
THE TWO MAIN PARTS OF A SENTENCE
The Subject
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The Predicate
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The girl
dances well.
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The girl is a subject and dances well is the predicate. If I come up to you and say "The girl", you know that is the subject about which I wish to talk. But I have said nothing about the subject. To make a sentence I must say something about the girl.
If I say "The girl dances well", I have expressed a complete thought and I have made a sentence.
In grammar the person or place or thing or idea we speak about is called the subject. What we say about the subject is called the predicate.
THE SUBJECT
Definition:
Subject tells the listener and the
reader whom or what the sentence is about. The subject is that part of a
sentence which names a person or place or thing or idea.
For example:
The lion
|
The teacher
|
Stars
|
The dog
|
Flowers
|
The sun
|
Clock
|
The girl
|
The horse
|
Anil
|
The Child
|
The newspaper
|
Every
complete subject contains a simple subject. The simple subject, which is a noun
or pronoun, is the most important word in the complete subject.
For example:
A loud argument has
been taken place.
|
The newspaper article
attracted Nick Vujicic.
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We listened to the radio at the school.
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Idly and Dosa are Shravan’s favorite breakfast.
Note: One couldn’t find
any subject in some imperative sentences. But the subject is to be understood
as ‘you.’
For instance:
1. Get out! (To be understood that
‘You get out.’)
2. Please sit down. (To be understood
that ‘You please sit down.’)
3. Stupid! (To be understood that ‘You stupid.’)
4.
Take
your seat. (To be understood that ‘You take your seat.)
|
THE PREDICATE
Definition:
The predicate is that part of a
sentence which tells something about the subject.
For example:
teaches well
|
eats grass
|
twinkle at night
|
is the cell phone
|
shines during the day
|
bite the boy
|
crows in the morning
|
dances well
|
is clever
|
A
simple predicate describes the action or condition of the subject or subjects
in a sentence. Hence a simple predicate is a verb.
For example:
Rama sketched a picture of
an elephant.
|
We always support each
other.
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Santhoshini rarely complains
about friends.
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SUBJECT
AND PREDICATE EXAMPLES
Notice how the following sentences
are divided into subject and predicate:
Subject
|
Predicate
|
The teacher
|
teaches well.
|
Stars
|
twinkle at night.
|
Flowers
|
bloom in the garden.
|
Dogs
|
like to bark and sniff.
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Active boys
|
never stop playing.
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The birds
|
always sing early in the morning.
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The horse
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is white.
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The young, worried pilot,
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read the storm warning.
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Vishal and Vyshali
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played with their toys.
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