Subjects and Predicates

Key Points to Remember​

Here are the most important points that you have to remember about the structure of a sentence:

• Every sentence must have two sections: a subject and a predicate.
• A thought begins in the subject section and is completed in the predicate section.
• The subject section tells your audience who or what you are talking about.
• The predicate section tells the audience what you are saying about your subject.
• The subject is the section of the sentence where you say what you are talking about.
• The predicate is the rest of the sentence where you say something about the subject: it completes the thought that started with the subject. The predicate is the section of the sentence where you say what the subject is, was, or will be, or what the subject does, did, or will do.  The predicate either contains an action (something that the subject does, did, will do, or is doing), or the predicate contains a description of the subject (something that the subject is, was, or will be).
• You need to know about subjects and predicates because you will strengthen your ability to understand what you read, and others will be able to understand what you write.
• To make complete sense, you have to speak and write in complete sentences.
• A sentence is complete only when it has a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought.