What is Subject and Predicate | Identify subject and predicate in a sentence

After completing this lesson you will be able to-

• What is subject and predicate?
• Identify subject and predicate in a sentence.

A sentence is a group of words arranged in a particular order that contains a subject and predicate and expresses a complete thought.

What is subject?

The subject of a sentence may be a word or a group of words that tells us who or what does something.

What is predicate?

The part of the sentence which says something about the subject is called a predicate, it may speak about the subject or an action of the subject.

For example-

1. The girl walked home.
   In this sentence the subject is the girl. The predicate is walked home. It tells us about the subject girl.
2. Ram read the book.
   In this sentence the subject is Ram and the predicate is read the book.
3. My cat drinks water.
   In this sentence the subject is My cat and the predicate is drinks water.
4. Ram is a English teacher.
   In this sentence the subject is Ram and the predicate is is a English teacher.
5. You are very pretty.
   You is the subject and are very pretty is the predicate.

Identify subject and predicate in a sentence-

The subject usually precedes the predicate. However, in some cases, the subject follows the predicate.

For example- Down the road skipped the boy.
Here the subject the boy follows the predicate down the road skipped.

The predicate always contains the verb and tells us more about the subject. Thus, it may contain an object, a compliment or another object in addition to the verb.

The subject in a sentence can be identified by placing the word who or what before the verb. In this way we can ask a question. The answer that we get will be the subject of the sentence.

Who skipped down the road?
The answer is the boy. So the boy is the subject of the sentence.

More on subject and predicate

A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, an exclamation mark or a question mark.

The subject and predicate of a sentence can be separated. The subject can thus consists of a word or a group of words. Sometimes the predicate will appear before the subject especially in a question.

For example- Are the books in the cupboard?
Subject books appears after the verb are.

Expansion of Sentences-

The subject and the predicate in a sentence can be expanded. Take a look at the sentences given below.

1. The boy run.
   In this sentence the subject the boy andthe predicate run. The subject and predicate are very short.
2. The girl in white sings.
   Here the subject is expanded the girl in white.
3. The girl sings for the school annual function.
   The subject is short but the predicate is expanded sings for the school annual function.

Subjects can be expanded by using words, phrases and clauses.

For example-

1. The girl in the class are quiet.
   The subject is expanded using an adverbial phrase in the class. So the subject is the boys in the class.
2. What they said is true.
   The subject is expanded using a noun clause.
3. Raj and Sanju are naughty boys.
   Here the subject is a compound subject consisting of Raj and Sanju connected by the conjunction and.

Predicate may have adjective, adverb, prepositional phrases or clauses to enlarge them.

For example-

1. Raj is a man well respected in the industrial sector.
   The predicate is enlarged using an adjective phrase is a man well respected in the industrial sector.
2. They work with everyone on the company.
   The predicate is enlarged using a preposition phrase work with everyone on company.

Compound Subject and Predicate-

We have looked at the subject and predicate of a sentence. Sometimes the subject can be compound in nature.

For example- The forks, the spoons and the plates are in the kitchen.
The compound subject in this sentence is the forks, the spoons and the plates.

Sometimes the predicate can also be compound.

For example- The boy skipped down the ground and sang a song.
The compound predicate in this sentence is skipped down the ground and sang a song.

At times the subject can be dropped as in the case of an imperative sentence.

Some more examples of subject and predicate-

	Subject	Predicate
1	Ram likes	to eat mango.
2	New Delhi	is the capital of India.
3	Ram	is playing football.
4	Sanju	likes to play cricket.

What we have learn today’s lesson-

• A sentence is a group of words arranged in a particular order that contains a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought.
• The subject of a sentence may be a word or a group of words that tells us who or what does something.
• The part of the sentence, which says something about the subject is called a predicate. It may speak about the subject or an action of the subject,
• The subject usually precedes the predicate, however, in some cases, the subject follows the predicate.
• The predicate always contains the verb and sometimes an object, a compliment or another object.
• The subject in a sentence can be identified by placing the word who, or what, before the verb and asking a question. The answer that we get will be the subject of the sentence.
• A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop and exclamation mark or a question mark.
• The subject and predicate of a sentence can be separated.
• Sometimes the predicate will appear before the subject, especially in a question.
• Subjects can be expanded by using words, phrases and clauses.
• Sometimes the subject of a sentence can be compound in nature.
• Sometimes the predicate can also be compound.