Subjects and Predicates

Subject & Predicate

The two parts of every sentence are the subject and predicate. The subject contains at least one noun, and the predicate contains at least one verb.

Subjects

• Usually appear at the start of a sentence... but not always.

• Example: The enchiladas on my plate appeared runny.

• The subject is underlined

• Example: Into the night rose the coyotes' howls.

• The subject is underlined. Notice the sub is at the end. Night is NOT the subject because it is part of the verb (it is also in a prep phrase and prep phrases NEVER contain subjects

Things that are NEVER the subject:

• Objects of preposition

• Direct objects because they are part of the predicate and receive the action of the verb.

• Adjectives

Things that could be a subject:

• Any noun

• Any noun modified by adjectives

• Any pronoun (he, she, I, you, we, they)

• Proper nouns

Things that create the predicate

• Verb! Many Verbs! Verbs all alone or with helpers! 

• Action verbs or linking verbs

• Any verbs with adverbs or prep phrases

• Action verbs with direct objects

• Linking verbs with predicate nominatives or pred adjectives

• Action OR Linking verbs with helpers!!!

Examples:

• The parasitic worm lives in my small intestine.

• The complete subject is: The parasitic worm

• The complete predicate is: lives in my small intestine

• Last night at the cookout, I ate uncooked pork.

• Can you see what the complete predicate is in this sentence? (go to next slide)

Predicate: ate uncooked pork last night at the cookout.

Wait, but... "last night" and "at the cookout" came first! Yes, but what does each phrase tell you? Last night is WHEN something HAPPENED and At the cookout tells you WHERE something HAPPENED. Get it? BTW, the subject was "I"... yep, that's it. Just the pronoun "I"!!!

Now do the following practice:

Multiple Choice: Read the selection and then choose if it is "Subject," "Predicate," "Complete Sentence," or "Neither.

Multiple Choice

Tapeworms are unhealthy

• Subject

• Predicate

• Complete Sentence

• Neither

Multiple Choice

My irritated intestines

• Subject

• Predicate

• Complete Sentence

• Neither

Multiple Choice

imitate your own cellular structure and remain hidden from the immune system

• Subject

• Predicate

• Complete Sentence

• Neither

Multiple Choice

In pools of standing water and animal waste

• Subject

• Predicate

• Complete Sentence

• Neither

Multiple Choice

Beautiful, iridescent, gasoline in a puddle, after a rain

• Subject

• Predicate

• Complete Sentence

• Neither

Multiple Choice

In rats, from the middle east, in houses without cats, the bubonic plague lurked

• Subject

• Predicate

• Complete Sentence

• Neither