Predicates

brianleeeee

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:

[li]The glacier melted. [/li][li]The glacier has been melting. [/li][li]The glacier melted, broke apart, and slipped into the sea.[/li]

A compound predicate consists of two (or more) such predicates connected:

[li]The glacier began to slip down the mountainside and eventually crushed some of the village's outlying buildings.[/li]

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):
[blockquote]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.) [/blockquote]A predicate adjective follows a linking verb and tells us something about the subject:

[li]Ramonita is beautiful. [/li][li]His behavior has been outrageous. [/li][li]That garbage on the street smells bad.[/li]

A predicate nominative follows a linking verb and tells us what the subject is:

[li]Dr. Couchworthy is acting president of the university. [/li][li]She used to be the tallest girl on the team.[/li]