Subject and Predicate

The Subject and the Predicate: The Basic Sentence Parts

1. Question: What is a subject?
The subject is the person, place, or thing that acts, is acted on, or is described in the sentence. Three types of subjects exist:

• Simple subject: a noun or a pronoun
  he
  she
  dog
  house

• Complete subject: a noun or a pronoun plus any modifiers
  the black dog
  the trees across the bay
  his dog house

• Compound subject: two or more subjects joined by a conjunction
  Mitch or Amy
  the dog and the house
  he and I

2. Question: What is a predicate?
The predicate is the action or description that occurs in the sentence. As with subjects, three types of predicates exist:

• Simple predicate: a complete verb (a verb and any helping verbs)
  sit
  was singing
  could have danced

• Complete predicate: a simple predicate plus all modifiers
  sit on the couch
  was singing quietly
  could have danced across the room

• Compound predicate: two or more predicates with the same subject
  was singing quietly and smiling to himself
  could have danced across the room and stayed awake all night
  sit on the couch or sit on the floor

3. Question: Do all sentences need both a subject and a predicate?
Yes, most complete sentences need both.

Simple Complete Compound

Subject James My friend James James and I

Predicate Jumped jumped on the bed jumped on the bed and fell on the floor

Subject + Predicate =

• James jumped.
• James and I jumped.
• My friend James jumped on the bed.
• James jumped on the bed and fell on the floor.
• James and I jumped on the bed.

Exception: A command is the only type of sentence that has no subject. The subject (“you”) is implied:

a. Stop.
Implied subject: you
Predicate: stop

b. Read the book.
Implied subject: you
Predicate: read the book

c. Walk the dogs and get the mail.
Implied subject: you
Predicate: walk the dogs and get the mail