Predicates
A predicate is the completer of a sentence. The subject names the \"do-er\" or \"be-er\" of the sentence; the predicate does the rest of the work. A simple predicate consists of only a verb, verb string, or compound verb:The glacier melted. The glacier has been melting. The glacier melted, broke apart, and slipped into the sea.A compound predicate consists of two (or more) such predicates connected:
The glacier began to slip down the mountainside and eventually crushed some of the village's outlying buildings.A complete predicate consists of the verb and all accompanying modifiers and other words that receive the action of a transitive verbor complete its meaning. The following description of predicates comes from The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers (examples our own):
With an intransitive verb, objects and complements are included in the predicate. (The glacier is melting.) With a transitive verb, objects and object complements are said to be part of the predicate. (The slow moving glacier wiped out an entire forest. It gave the villagers a lot of problems.) With a linking verb, the subject is connected to a subject complement. (The mayor doesn't feel good.) A predicate adjective follows a linking verb and tells us something about the subject:
Ramonita is beautiful. His behavior has been outrageous. That garbage on the street smells bad.A predicate nominative follows a linking verb and tells us what the subject is:
Dr. Couchworthy is acting president of the university. She used to be the tallest girl on the team.
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