Subject: Simple Subject and Simple Predicate

The subject is the person or a thing who or which carries out the action. A sentence cannot exist without the The subject of a sentence includes the noun or pronoun along with all the words that modify, or describe it. The simple subject
subject. Subjects are nouns or pronouns in a sentence. is the noun or pronoun all by itself.

Example: The teacher is teaching the students.

The light blue shirt with the colorful pattern was her favorite top.
In this sentence, teaching is the verb (it is the action that is being carried out). The one who teaches is the subject,
hence teacher is the subject.
In this sentence “shirt” is the simple subject, and all the descriptive words tell us more about that shirt. The subject is “shirt”
Now have a look at this sentence: Sit down. and all its modifiers (the light blue shirt with the colorful pattern), but the simple subject is simply “shirt.”

Even though this sentence does not seem to have subject, it actually has an implied subject. The sentence is
effectively equivalent to: You should sit down. The predicate of a sentence is based on the simple predicate, which is the verb. All the other words in the predicate tell more
about the subject, and some of the words can modify the verb. In the example above, the word “was” is the verb, and
Sample Sentences: therefore it is the simple predicate.

1.) Ram is an obedient boy.

2.) Reading is good for the mind. Compound Subject and Compound Predicate
3.) Playing is good for maintaining the body in shape. Sometimes a sentence has a compound subject, when there are two or more nouns in the subject:
4.) In the first sentence, Ram is the subject.

In the second sentence, reading is the subject. Bobby and his friends ran outside to play basketball.

In the third sentence, playing is the subject.

The verb is “ran” and we ask, “who ran?” The answer is “Bobby and his friends” which comprise the subject.
In the second and third sentences, reading and playing are not used as verbs but as nouns (referring to the name
of an activity rather than an action). As we can see from all the examples, Subjects are the doers of the verb. A compound predicate includes two or more verbs that relate to the subject:
Object:
The little girl picked up her doll and climbed into bed.
The object is the person or a thing upon whom or upon which the action of the verb is carried out. In simple
words, an object is the receiver of the verb.
The verbs are “picked up” and “climbed.” We ask, “who picked up? who climbed?” The answer is the same for both verbs: “the
Example: The teacher is teaching the students. little girl.”

The one who is taught is the object (receiving the action), hence students is the object
“Without a working knowledge of subject, predicate and object, you can never master the rules of punctuation.”
Predicate:
NOUNS – is a thing and nouns are the basic building blocks of sentences. These things can represent a person, animal, place,
Effectively, every sentence can be broken down into two parts: a subject and a predicate. We have already studied
idea, emotion – almost any thing that you can think of.
what subjects are (what or whom the sentence is about). The predicate is the part of the sentence that tells us
something about the subject. Remove the subject and remaining part of the sentence is the predicate of the 1.) Common noun
sentence.
A common noun is a noun that refers to people or things in general, e.g. boy, country, bridge, city, birth, day, happiness.
Example: The teacher is teaching the students.
2.) Proper noun
The teacher is the subject here and the 'is teaching the students' is the predicate. A proper noun is a name that identifies a particular person, place, or thing, e.g. Steven, Africa, London, Monday. In written
English, proper nouns begin with capital letters.
Remember the following rules for the predicate:
3.) Concrete noun
I. It must agree in number with the subject.
II. It should use the appropriate tense. A concrete noun is a noun which refers to people and to things that exist physically and can be seen, touched, smelled, heard,
III. Be in the proper voice (active or passive). or tasted. Examples include dog, building, coffee, tree, rain, beach, tune.
 4.) Abstract noun 5.) Possessive Pronouns - Possessive pronouns are used to show possession. As they are used as adjectives, they are
also known as possessive adjectives. My, your, his, her, its, our and their are all possessive pronouns.
An abstract noun is a noun which refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions - things that cannot be seen or touched and things
which have no physical reality, e.g. truth, danger, happiness, time, friendship, humour. Example: Have you seen her book?

5.) Collective nouns (In this example, the pronoun her replaces a word like Sarah's.)

Collective nouns refer to groups of people or things, e.g. audience, family, government, team, jury. In American English, most 6.) Relative Pronouns - Relative pronouns are used to add more information to a sentence. Which, that, who (including
collective nouns are treated as singular, with a singular verb: whom and whose) and where are all relative pronouns.

“The whole family was at the table.” Example: Dr Adam Sissons, who lectured at Cambridge for more than 12 years, should have known the difference.

A noun may belong to more than one category. For example, happiness is both a common noun and an abstract noun, while (In this example, the relative pronoun who introduces the clause who studied at Cambridge for 12 years and refers
Mount Everest is both a concrete noun and a proper noun. back to Dr Adams Sissons.)

6.) Count and mass nouns The man who first saw the comet reported it as a UFO.

Nouns can be either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns (or count nouns) are those that refer to something that can
be counted. Uncountable nouns (or mass nouns) do not typically refer to things that can be counted and so they do not
regularly have a plural form.
(In this example, the relative pronoun who introduces the clause who first saw the comet and refers back to the man.)
7.) Absolute Possessive Pronouns - These pronouns also show possession. Unlike possessive pronouns (see above),
which are adjectives to nouns, these pronouns sit by themselves. Mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs are all
absolute possessive pronouns.

PRONOUNS Examples: The tickets are as good as ours. & Shall we take yours or theirs?

8.) Reciprocal Pronouns - Reciprocal pronouns are used for actions or feelings that are reciprocated. The two most
1.) Demonstrative Pronouns - These pronouns are used to demonstrate (or indicate). This, that, these and those are all
common reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another.
demonstrative pronouns.
Examples: They like one another. & They talk to each other like they're babies.
Examples:
9.) Reflexive Pronouns - A reflexive pronoun ends ...self or ...selves and refers to another noun or pronoun in the
This is the one I left in the car.
sentence (usually the subject of the sentence). The reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself,
(In this example, the speaker could be indicating to a mobile phone, in which case, the pronoun this replaces the words mobile ourselves, yourselves and themselves.
phone.)
Examples: The dog bit itself.
Shall I take those?
(In this example, the intensive pronoun itself refers back to the noun the dog.)
2.) Indefinite Pronouns - Unlike demonstrative pronouns, which point out specific items, indefinite pronouns are used
10.) Intensive pronoun (sometimes called an emphatic pronoun) refers back to another noun or pronoun in the sentence
for non-specific things. This is the largest group of pronouns. All, some, any, several, anyone, nobody, each, both,
to emphasize it (e.g., to emphasize that it is the thing carrying out the action).
few, either, none, one and no one are the most common.
Examples: John bakes all the bread himself.
Example: Somebody must have seen the driver leave.
(In this example, the intensive pronoun himself refers back to the noun John.)
(somebody – not a specific person)

3.) Interrogative Pronouns - These pronouns are used in questions. Although they are classified as pronouns, it is not
easy to see how they replace nouns. Who, which, what, where and how are all interrogative pronouns.
VERBS – are words that express action or state of being. There are three types of verbs: action verbs, linking verbs, and
Example: Who told you to do that? helping verbs.
4.) Personal Pronouns - The personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, and who. More often than not (but not 1.) Action verb are words that express action (give, eat, walk, etc.) or possession (have, own, etc.). Action verbs can be
exclusively), they replace nouns representing people. When most people think of pronouns, it is the personal either transitive or intransitive.
pronouns that usually spring to mind.

Example: We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.
2.) Transitive verb always has a noun that receives the action of the verb, called the direct object.
EXAMPLE: Laurissa raises her hand. The verb is raises. Her hand is the object receiving the verb’s action. Therefore,
raises is a transitive verb.
Transitive verbs sometimes have indirect objects, which name the object to whom or for whom the action was done.
EXAMPLE: Abdus gave Becky the pencil. The verb is gave. The direct object is the pencil. (What did he give? The
pencil.) The indirect object is Becky. (To whom did he give it? To Becky.)
3.) Intransitive verb never has a direct or indirect object. Although an intransitive verb may be followed by an adverb or
adverbial phrase, there is no object to receive its action.
EXAMPLE: Laurissa rises slowly from her seat. The verb is rises. The phrase, slowly from her seat, modifies the verb,
but no object receives the action.
ADVERB – is a word that is used to change, modify or qualify several types of words including an adjective, a verb, a clause,
another adverb, or any other type of word or phrase, with the exception of determiners and adjectives, that directly modify
nouns.
1.) Adverb of manner – explain how an action is carried out. Very often adverbs of manner are adjectives with -ly added
to the end, but this is certainly not always the case. In fact, some adverbs of manner will have the same spelling as
the adjective form.
Examples: Slowly, Rapidly, Clumsily, Badly, Diligently, Sweetly, Warmly, Sadly
2.) Adverbs of place – sometimes called spatial adverbs, will help explain where an action happens. Adverbs of place will
be associated with the action of the verb in a sentence, providing context for direction, distance and position:
southeast, everywhere, up, left, close by, back, inside, around. These terms don’t usually end in -ly.
Example:
a.) Directions – New York is located north of Philadelphia.
b.) Distance – Jane is moving far away.
c.) Position – The treasure lies underneath the box
3.) Adverbs of frequency are used to express time or how often something occurs. Adverbs of frequency can be split
two main groups. The first, adverbs of indefinite frequency, are terms that have an unclear meaning as to how long
are how often something occurs: usually, always, normally. These adverbs will usually be placed after the main verb
or between the auxiliary verb and infinitive.
Example: The adverb is usually placed before the main verb.
Adverbs of time, while seemingly similar to adverbs of frequency, tell us when something happens. Adverbs of time are usually
placed at the end of a sentence.
Example: Harvey forgot his lunch yesterday and again today.
4.) Adverbs of purpose, sometimes called adverbs of reason, help to describe why something happened. They can come
in the form of individual words – so, since, thus, because – but also clauses – so that, in order to. Notice in the
examples that the adverbs of purpose are used to connect sentences that wouldn’t make sense if they were formed
alone.
Example: I started jogging so that I won’t be late.
ADJECTIVES are words that describe or modify other words, making your writing and speaking much more specific, and a
whole lot more interesting. Words like small, blue, and sharp are descriptive, and they are all examples of adjectives. Because
adjectives are used to identify or quantify individual people and unique things, they are usually positioned before the noun or
pronoun that they modify. Some sentences contain multiple adjectives.
1.) Articles -There are only three articles, and all of them are adjectives: a, an, and the. Because they are used to
discuss non-specific things and people, a and an are called indefinite articles. For example:
a.) I’d like a
b.) Let’s go on an
2.) Possessive Adjectives - As the name indicates, possessive adjectives are used to indicate possession. They are:
My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Their
Possessive adjectives also function as possessive pronouns.
3.) Demonstrative Adjectives - Like the article the, demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate or demonstrate
specific people, animals, or things. These, those, this and that are demonstrative adjectives.
a.) These books belong on that
b.) This movie is my favorite.
c.) Please put those cookies on the blue plate.
4.) Coordinate Adjectives - Coordinate adjectives are separated with commas or the word and, and appear one after
another to modify the same noun. The adjectives in the phrase bright, sunny day and long and dark night are
coordinate adjectives. In phrases with more than two coordinate adjectives, the word and always appears before
the last one; for example:
The sign had big, bold, and bright letters.
 Be careful, because some adjectives that appear in a series are not coordinate. In the phrase green delivery truck, KINDS OF SENTENCES
the words green and delivery are not separated by a comma because green modifies the phrase delivery truck. To
eliminate confusion when determining whether a pair or group of adjectives is coordinate, just insert the
word and between them. If and works, then the adjectives are coordinate and need to be separated with a comma. 1. Declarative - A declarative sentence makes a statement. A declarative sentence ends with a period.
Example: The house will be built on a hill.
2. Interrogative - An interrogative sentence asks a question. An interrogative sentence ends with a question mark.
5.) Numbers Adjectives - When they’re used in sentences, numbers are almost always adjectives. You can tell that a Example: How did you find the card?
number is an adjective when it answers the question “How many?” 3. Exclamatory - An exclamatory sentence shows strong feeling. An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation
mark.
a.) The stagecoach was pulled by a team of six Example: The monster is attacking!
b.) He ate 23 hotdogs during the contest, and was sick afterwards. 4. Imperative - An imperative sentence gives a command.
Example: Cheryl, try the other door.
6.) Interrogative Adjectives - There are three interrogative adjectives: which, what, and whose. Like all other types of Sometimes the subject of an imperative sentence (you) is understood.
adjectives, interrogative adjectives modify nouns. As you probably know, all three of these words are used to ask Example: Look in the closet. (You, look in the closet.)
questions.
“A complete sentence includes two core components: a subject and a predicate. Fragments are essentially dependent
a.) Which option sounds best to you? clauses that cannot stand on their own. They result when you attempt to write a sentence without one of those two core
b.) What time should we go? components.”
c.) Whose socks are those?
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
7.) Indefinite Adjectives - Like the articles a and an, indefinite adjectives are used to discuss non-specific things. You
might recognize them, since they’re formed from indefinite pronouns. The most common indefinite adjectives Basic Rule. A singular subject (she, Bill, car) takes a singular verb (is, goes, shines), whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.
are any, many, no, several, and few.
Example: The list of items is/are on the desk.
a.) Do we have any peanut butter? If you know that list is the subject, then you will choose is for the verb.
b.) Grandfather has been retired for many
c.) There are no bananas in the fruit bowl. Rule 1. A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of. This is a key rule for understanding subjects. The word of is the
d.) I usually read the first few pages of a book before I buy it. culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb mistakes.
e.) We looked at several cars before deciding on the best one for our family. Hasty writers, speakers, readers, and listeners might miss the all-too-common mistake in the following sentence:

8.) Attributive Adjectives - Attributive adjectives talk about specific traits, qualities, or features – in other words, they
are used to discuss attributes. There are different kinds of attributive adjectives:
a.) Observation adjectives such as real, perfect, best, interesting, beautiful or cheapest can indicate value or
talk about subjective measures.
b.) Size and shape adjectives talk about measurable, objective qualities including specific physical properties.
Some examples include small, large, square, round, poor, wealthy, slow and
c.) Age adjectives denote specific ages in numbers, as well as general ages. Examples are old, young, new,
five-year-old, and
d.) Color adjectives are exactly what they sound like – they’re adjectives that indicate color. Examples
include pink, yellow, blue, and
e.) Origin adjectives indicate the source of the noun, whether it’s a person, place, animal or thing. Examples
include American, Canadian, Mexican, French.
f.) Material adjectives denote what something is made of. Some examples include cotton, gold, wool, and
g.) Qualifier adjectives are often regarded as part of a noun. They make nouns more specific; examples
include log cabin, luxury car, andpillow cover.
Incorrect: A bouquet of yellow roses lend color and fragrance to the room.
Correct: A bouquet of yellow roses lends . . . (bouquet lends, not roses lend)
Rule 2. Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verb.
Examples:
My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.
Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.
Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage decorations.
Rule 3. The verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it.
Examples:
Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes on that shelf.
Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on that shelf.

This rule can lead to bumps in the road. For example, if I is one of two (or more) subjects, it could lead to this odd sentence:
 Awkward: Neither she, my friends, nor I am going to the festival. Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.
Ten dollars is a high price to pay.
BUT
If possible, it's best to reword such grammatically correct but awkward sentences. Ten dollars (i.e., dollar bills) were scattered on the floor.

Better: Rule 8. With words that indicate portions—e.g., a lot, a majority, some, all—Rule 1 given earlier in this section is reversed, and
Neither she, I, nor my friends are going to the festival. we are guided by the noun after of. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.
OR
She, my friends, and I are not going to the festival.
Examples:
A lot of the pie has disappeared.
Rule 4. As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and. A lot of the pies have disappeared.
A third of the city is unemployed.
A third of the people are unemployed.
Example: A car and a bike are my means of transportation.
All of the pie is gone.
All of the pies are gone.
But note these exceptions: Some of the pie is missing.
Some of the pies are missing.

Exceptions: Rule 9. With collective nouns such as group, jury, family, audience, population, the verb might be singular or plural, depending
Breaking and entering is against the law. on the writer's intent.
The bed and breakfast was charming.

Examples:
In those sentences, breaking and entering and bed and breakfast are compound nouns. All of my family has arrived OR have arrived.
Most of the jury is here OR are here.
Rule 5a. Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by such words as along with, as well as, besides, not, etc. These A third of the population was not in favor OR were not in favor of the bill.
words and phrases are not part of the subject. Ignore them and use a singular verb when the subject is singular.
Rule 10. The word were replaces was in sentences that express a wish or are contrary to fact:
Examples:
The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly. Example: If Joe were here, you'd be sorry.
Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the cause of her shaking.

Rule 5b. Parentheses are not part of the subject. Shouldn't Joe be followed by was, not were, given that Joe is singular? But Joe isn't actually here, so we say were, not was. The
sentence demonstrates the subjunctive mood, which is used to express things that are hypothetical, wishful, imaginary, or
factually contradictory. The subjunctive mood pairs singular subjects with what we usually think of as plural verbs.
Example: Joe (and his trusty mutt) was always welcome.

Examples:
Rule 6. In sentences beginning with here or there, the true subject follows the verb. I wish it were Friday.
She requested that he raise his hand.

Examples:
There are four hurdles to jump. In the first example, a wishful statement, not a fact, is being expressed; therefore, were, which we usually think of as a plural
There is a high hurdle to jump. verb, is used with the singular it. (Technically, it is the singular subject of the object clause in the subjunctive mood: it were
Here are the keys. Friday.)

Rule 7. Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit. Normally, he raise would sound terrible to us. However, in the second example, where a request is being expressed, the
subjunctive mood is correct.

Examples: Note: The subjunctive mood is losing ground in spoken English but should still be used in formal speech and writing.
Three miles is too far to walk.