SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

In the realm of grammar, subject and predicate are sentence parts; they are, therefore, words
or groups of words, and their definition and identification is a matter of syntax. In the simplest
case, where the sentence consists of just two words, such as
(1) BATS FLY,
(2) FRASER SWIMS,
the subject is the noun and the predicate is the verb. Very few sentences are so simple, but an
indicative sentence with just one noun and one verb remains a good paradigm for the
grammatical categories of subject and predicate because we can see in it the form of the sentence
stripped down to its essentials: If either of the two words were omitted, we would no longer have
an indicative sentence. Furthermore, very many sentences of English, as well as of other familiar
European languages, break neatly and obviously into two parts corresponding to the noun and
the verb in the paradigm, and modern linguistic analysis of sentence syntax generally begins by
viewing a sentence as a noun phrase plus a verb phrase:
Although subject-predicate sentences are very common in English and in other languages,
this form of sentence is not the only one, other forms being exemplified in English by normal
idiomatic expressions for commands, requests, salutations, and so on. These other forms of
sentence, however, have traditionally been assimilated to the subject-predicate form through the
assumption of an "unexpressed subject" or some other missing element. It once seemed
reasonable to try to save appearances in this way because subject and predicate seemed to be
universal grammatical categories, found not only in the European languages but also, for
example, in Sanskrit. Recent familiarity with a wider variety of languages has shown that these
categories are by no means universal, and it is doubtful whether any grammatical categories or
linguistic forms are universal. Some linguists have proposed that topic and comment are found
universally, although subject and predicate are not. These categories, however, do not have to do
just with the arrangement of words in sentences but rather with knowing what is being discussed
and understanding what is said about it; hence topic and comment are not purely grammatical
categories. The present situation in linguistics may therefore be summed up by saying that
subject and predicate are useful grammatical concepts but do not represent universal grammatical
categories.
In English, every sentence has two essential parts: a complete subject and a complete
predicate.

Subjects
The complete subject is the simple subject (a noun or a pronoun) plus any word or group of
words modifying the simple subject that tells who or what the sentence is about:
The high from my Mountain Dew usually lasts about an hour.
 To find the complete subject, ask Who? or What? insert the verb, and finish the question.
The answer is the complete subject:
What usually lasts about an hour? The high from my Mountain Dew.
The simple subject is the essential noun, pronoun, or group of words acting as a noun that
cannot be left out of the complete subject. In order to identify it, remove the complements and
modifiers and whatever is left is the simple subject:

article simple subject prepositional phrase predicate

The high from my Mountain Dew usually lasts about an hour.

TIP: Does the sentence make sense with just the word ("high") identified as the simple
subject?
(The) high usually lasts about an hour.
Additional Facts About Subjects
The "Understood You"
Sometimes, as in the case of imperative sentences (see verb mood), the subject does not
actually appear in the sentence. At such times the invisible subject is called the "understood
you":
(You) Rent The Last of the Mohicans from the video store.
Positioning
Although the subject most commonly appears before the verb, it can also appear afterwards
in sentences that begin with "there is" or "there are." "There" is an expletive or empty word
which simply gets the sentence started:
There are precious few hills in Illinois. vs. Precious few hills are in Illinois.
Sentences can also be inverted for effect:
Happy is the wife of Harrison Ford. vs. The wife of Harrison Ford is happy.
Predicates
The complete predicate is the verb plus its objects, complements, and adverbial modifiers
that tell what the complete subject does or is:
The high from my Mountain Dew usually lasts about an hour.
To find the complete predicate, ask "What does the subject (the high) do?" (It) usually lasts
about an hour.
Simple Predicate
 The simple predicate is the essential verb or verb phrase that cannot be left out of the
complete predicate. Again, remove the modifiers and complements to identify it:

simple
article simple subject prepositional phrase adverb prepositional phrase
predicate

The high from my Mountain Dew usually lasts about an hour

TIP: Does the sentence make sense with just the word identified as the simple predicate?
The high from my Mountain Dew lasts.
Compound Subjects and Predicates
Although the examples so far have contained only one subject and one verb, a sentence may
contain a compound subject, a compound predicate, or both.
Compound Subject
The compound subject consists of two or more subjects that have the same verb and are
joined by a conjunction such as "and" or "or":
Spencer and Annie wagged their tails.
Compound Predicate
The compound predicate consists of two or more verbs that have the same subject and are
joined by a conjunction such as "and" or "or":
I came, saw, and conquered.