The Predicate

The predicate is everything in a sentence that follows the subject. If the subject tells us who or what the sentence is about, the predicate tells us what the subject does, is, or has. Together, the subject and predicate form the two essential halves of every complete sentence.

At its core, every predicate must contain at least one finite verb — a verb that carries tense and agrees with the subject. In the simplest case, a single intransitive verb can form a complete predicate all on its own: I refuse. But predicates are rarely that bare. A full predicate can expand to include direct objects (She kicked the ball), indirect objects (He gave me a gift), subject and object complements, modifiers, and participial phrases — all the material that fleshes out what the subject is doing.

One subject can carry multiple verbs. When this happens, we call it a compound predicate: She laughed and cried. or My friend Daniel teaches, volunteers, and plays volleyball. This is not the same as a compound sentence, where two independent clauses each have their own subject. A compound predicate shares a single subject, which makes the sentence more economical and avoids unnecessary repetition.

The reverse arrangement is the compound subject: multiple subjects sharing the same predicate (Tom and Jerry fought). Recognizing the difference helps you punctuate correctly — no comma is needed between the parts of a compound predicate, but compound sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction require a comma before the conjunction.

Adverbial material can sometimes drift to the front of the sentence, before the subject (Yesterday, I arrived). This is still part of the predicate — the full predicate includes everything from the finite verb to the end of the clause, plus any fronted adverbials that attach to it. The key test is always the finite verb: find it, and you have found the start of the predicate.

A predicate can also contain non-finite verbs — participles and infinitives that do not carry tense on their own. In She wants to leave, the finite verb is wants and to leave is an infinitive that functions as the direct object within the predicate. The finite verb is the engine; everything else in the predicate orbits around it.