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. In the following sentences, the predicate is enclosed
in braces ({}), while the subject is highlighted.
- Judy {runs}.
- Judy and her dog {run on the beach every morning}.
To determine the subject of a sentence,
first isolate the verb and then make a question by
placing "who?" or "what?" before it -- the answer is
the subject.
- The audience littered the theatre floor with torn wrappings and
spilled popcorn.
The verb in the above sentence is
"littered." Who or what littered? The audience did. "The
audience" is the subject of the sentence.
The predicate (which always includes the
verb) goes on to relate something about the
subject: what about the audience? It "littered the
theatre floor with torn wrappings and spilled popcorn."
Unusual Sentences
Imperative sentences (sentences that give
a command or an order) differ from conventional sentences
in that their subject, which is always "you," is
understood rather than expressed.
- Stand on your head. ("You" is understood before
"stand.")
Be careful with sentences that begin with "there"
plus a form of the verb "to be." In such
sentences, "there" is not the subject;
it merely signals that the true subject will soon
follow.
- There were three stray kittens cowering under our porch
steps this morning.
If you ask who? or what? before the
verb ("were cowering"), the answer is "three stray
kittens," the correct subject.
Simple Subject and Simple Predicate
Every subject is built around one noun or
pronoun (or more) that, when stripped of all the words
that modify it, is known as the simple subject.
Consider the following example:
- A piece of pepperoni pizza would satisfy his
hunger.
The subject is built around the noun
"piece," with the other words of the subject --
"a" and "of pepperoni pizza" -- modifying the
noun. "Piece" is the simple subject.
Likewise, a predicate has at its centre a simple predicate, which is always the
verb or verbs that link up with the
subject. In the example we just considered, the
simple predicate is "would satisfy" -- in other
words, the verb of the sentence.
A sentence may have a compound subject -- a simple subject consisting of
more than one noun or pronoun -- as in
these examples:
- Team pennants, rock posters and family
photographs covered the boy's bedroom walls.
- Her uncle and she walked slowly through the
Inuit art gallery and admired the powerful sculptures exhibited
there.
The second sentence above features a compound predicate, a predicate that
includes more than one verb pertaining to the same
subject (in this case, "walked" and
"admired"). | 
