Every sentence must have a subject and a predicate. The subject is who or what the sentence is about, and the predicate is the action being done by the subject.
The simple subject of a sentence can be a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun, and the simple predicate is a verb or verb phrase showing the action being done by the simple subject. In many grammar lessons, the predicate is often called just the verb or main verb. However, it must have a subject and a tense that shows the time during which the action is taking place in order to be the predicate of a sentence.
| • Robert runs. | → subject: Robert = noun | | predicate: runs (verb) |
|---|---|---|
| • He walks. | → subject: He = pronoun | | predicate: walks (verb) |
| • His cute cats can swim. | → subject: His cute cats = noun phrase | | predicate: can climb (verb phrase) |