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Every complete sentence consists of two parts: a subject and a predicate.
- The subject is doing the action.
- The predicate is what is being done and provides information about the subject.
Both parts are important to understand what's going on in the sentence.
A basic principle here is the "subject-verb agreement": subjects and predicates must agree in number.
In other words, singular subjects require singular verbs and plural subjects require plural verbs.
For example:
- Peter and I were playing basketball last night.
Here, the compound subject is plural, it's Peter and I. Hence, the verb were is plural.
Note: When you conjugate the verb (or change its form), only the subject of the sentence counts.
For example:
- The woman with many necklaces smiles.
Here, even though the noun necklaces is plural, the verb smiles is singular because the subject woman is singular.
Why Identify the Subjects and Predicates?
Subjects and predicates are the most important part of a sentence. It is really important to identify them in a sentence.
Here are two good reasons:
- To write better sentences.
- To learn the useful skill to write complete sentences, hence being able to express a complete thought.
No wonder, this will help you build a solid grammar foundation from a young age.
Let's take a look at the following examples:
- At the museum with Mom looking at the paintings.
This is actually not a complete thought or sentence. There is no subject and predicate.
If we wanted to fix that sentence, we would say:
- While at the museum, Mom and I looked at the paintings.
This is a complete thought or sentence. There are both subject and predicate in the sentence.
First, we can find the verb which is looked.
Then we ask, who was looking (or who is doing the action)? The answer is Mom and I.
So, the subject is Mom and I, and the predicate is looked at the paintings.
Subject Predicate Relationship
- The "subject-verb agreement" means that subjects and predicates must agree in number.
- Singular subjects require singular verbs and plural subjects require plural verbs.
- When you conjugate the verb, only the subject of the sentence counts.
- It is really important to identify the subject and predicate in a sentence. That way, you can write sentences that are complete thoughts and well-written.
