Subject and Predicate Written Portion

According to the University of Ottawa “Every complete sentence contains two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is what (or whom) the sentence is about, while the predicate tells something about the subject.”  According to Englishforeveryone.org, “The simple subject of a sentence is the main word in the complete subject. It is always a noun or a pronoun.  The simple predicate is the complete verb within the complete predicate.” 

The complete subject is what the sentence is about, including any descriptive words.  The predicate subject is just the noun or pronoun from the complete subject without any of the descriptive words.  The complete predicate is the part of the sentence that describes what is happening to the subject.  The predicate is the main verb from the complete predicate.

Examples of subject and predicate are in the following sentences.  The complete subject is underlined, the simple subject is bolded, the complete predicate is highlighted, and the simple predicate is italicized. 

The beautiful and intelligent woman swims in the gorgeous blue water.  The complete subject is “the beautiful and intelligent woman” because it is what the sentence is about.  The simple predicate is “woman” because it is the noun within the complete subject.  The complete predicate is “swims in the gorgeous blue water” because it is what is happening to the subject.  The simple predicate is “swims” because it is the main verb within the complete predicate.

Salty tears stream down the once, bright-eyed little girl.  This sentence is different from the other one because it has the complete predicate first, and then the complete subject but that does not matter.  We still follow the same rules.  The complete subject is “the once, bright-eyed little girl” because it has the main noun and the adjectives describing the main noun.  The simple subject is “girl” because it is the noun within the complete subject.  The complete predicate is “salty tears stream down” because it is describing what is happening to the complete subject.  The simple predicate is “stream down” because it is the main verb within the complete predicate.

Test Questions

1. Is the underlined part of the following sentence the complete subject, simple subject, complete predicate, or simple predicate? A kind, tall man helps a little dog.
2. What part of a sentence includes a noun or pronoun and the words describing it?
3. What is the difference between a complete subject/predicate and a simple subject/predicate?
4. Find the complete predicate in the following sentence.The princess was confused about what to do.

Answer key

1. Simple predicate
2. Complete subject
3. The difference is a simple subject/predicate include only key words and the complete subject/predicate include all the other description as well.

4. the princess was confused about what to do.