Second Grade English: Subject and Predicate (Who & What Happened)

Every complete sentence you will ever read or write is divided into two fundamental halves: the subject and the predicate. The subject answers the question "Who or what is this sentence about?" while the predicate answers the question "What is the subject doing, or what happened?" Understanding how these two halves connect gives you the power to analyze any sentence and ensures that your own writing is clear, balanced, and complete. In this chapter, you will master identifying simple and complete subjects, finding the verb in the predicate, and separating sentences cleanly into their two parts.

The Division Line: Subject vs. Predicate

Imagine a sentence as a train. The locomotive pulling at the front is the subject, and all the lively cargo cars following behind are the predicate.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    THE SENTENCE TRAIN ENGINE                    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                 |
|         [ THE COMPLETE SUBJECT ] | [ THE COMPLETE PREDICATE ]   |
|                                  |                              |
|           The playful puppy      |      barked at the postman.  |
|                                  |                              |
|           WHO is it about?       |      WHAT did it do?         |
|           (The puppy!)           |      (Barked!)               |
|                                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

The Slicing Technique

You can draw a vertical line right through any sentence to separate the subject from the predicate. The line always falls immediately before the main verb of the sentence! "My older brother | plays the electric guitar." "The golden sun | warmed the sandy beach." "Three green frogs | leaped into the pond."

Complete Subject vs. Simple Subject

The subject of a sentence can be analyzed in two ways: the complete subject and the simple subject.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 COMPLETE VS. SIMPLE SUBJECT                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Sentence: "The energetic little squirrel hid an acorn."        |
|                                                                 |
|  COMPLETE SUBJECT: "The energetic little squirrel"              |
|  (Includes the main noun plus all the describing adjectives!)   |
|                                                                 |
|  SIMPLE SUBJECT:   "squirrel"                                   |
|  (The single core noun stripped of all descriptions!)           |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Finding the Simple Subject

To find the simple subject, first identify the complete subject. Then ask: "Which single noun or pronoun is the absolute star of the show?" In the complete subject the wise old owl, the simple subject is simply owl.

Complete Predicate vs. Simple Predicate

Just like the subject, the predicate can be viewed as complete or simple.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                COMPLETE VS. SIMPLE PREDICATE                    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Sentence: "The red helicopter hovered above the city streets." |
|                                                                 |
|  COMPLETE PREDICATE: "hovered above the city streets"           |
|  (Includes the verb plus all the adverbs and details!)          |
|                                                                 |
|  SIMPLE PREDICATE:   "hovered"                                  |
|  (The pure action verb or linking verb alone!)                  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

The Heartbeat of the Predicate

The simple predicate is ALWAYS the verb! It is the action word or linking word that carries the energy of the sentence. If you can locate the verb, you have instantly found the simple predicate.

Slicing Sentences in Action

Examine how different kinds of sentences split cleanly into subject and predicate.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 SENTENCE BREAKDOWN EXAMPLES                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  1. Maya's grandmother | baked fresh blueberry muffins.         |
|  2. The dark storm clouds | rolled across the valley.           |
|  3. We | finished our colorful science posters yesterday.       |
|  4. A flock of wild geese | flew south for the winter.          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Divide each sentence into Complete Subject and Complete Predicate by identifying the dividing line: "The curious cat climbed the bookshelf." "Two tall firefighters extinguished the flames." "Carlos rode his bicycle to school."

Exercise 2: In the sentence "The fierce winter wind blew through the trees," identify the Simple Subject and the Simple Predicate.

Exercise Solutions

Solution to Exercise 1: In sentence 1: The complete subject is "The curious cat" and the complete predicate is "climbed the bookshelf." In sentence 2: The complete subject is "Two tall firefighters" and the complete predicate is "extinguished the flames." In sentence 3: The complete subject is "Carlos" and the complete predicate is "rode his bicycle to school."

Solution to Exercise 2: The simple subject is wind (the core noun). The simple predicate is blew (the core action verb).