Subject/Predicate Pair

The Subject Predicate Pair

All sentences must contain at least one independent clause. The independent clause must contain a subject and a predicate. In this lesson, the focus shall be on the subject/predicate pair of an independent clause that forms a complete sentence.

The subject of a clause is analogous to the actor in an act of a play. The predicate of the clause is analogous to the action in an act of a play. An action cannot occur unless there is an actor performing the action. The interaction between the actor or subject and the action or predicate is called the subject/predicate pair. This subject/predicate pair forms the bases of a complete clause.

Clauses are the basic elements of a sentence. There are two types of clauses- the independent clause and the dependent clause. Furthermore, there are three sub-types of dependent clauses – the adjective clause, the adverbial clause, and the noun clause. The dependent clauses will be discussed in future lessons.

All clauses, regardless of whether they are independent or dependent, must have a subject/predicate pair. The actor of the clause and all the phrases modifying the actor are considered the subject of the clause. The action of the clause and all the phrases modifying the action are considered the predicate of the clause. This lesson, however, shall only focus on the subject (or actor) and the verb (or action) of the clause. A future lesson will discuss the modifying phrases that supply additional information to the subject and predicate of the clause.

Consider the following examples of simple sentences with a single subject/predicate pair:

The actor acts.

The dancer dances.

The beach is beautiful.

The breeze feels good.

Notice that the subjects or actors in the above sentences are all nouns performing an action. The actions of the sentences are all verbs. In the third sentence – The beach is beautiful – the actor – The beach – is expressing a state of being – is beautiful. The verb – is – is the conjugated form of the infinitive verb – to be. This is a subject complement because it compliments or describes the subject. The beach is beautiful. In the fourth sentence – The breeze feels good – the actor is expressing a feeling. This is another subject complement because it complements the subject with a feeling. – The breeze feels good.

While the predicate of a clause must be a verb, the subject of the clause, the actor, may be a phrase. for example, an infinitive phrase – To learn – can be the subject or actor of the clause.

To learn how to write is easy.

In this example, the subject of the sentence is the infinitive phrase – To learn. The other infinitive phrase – to write – acts as an object of the first infinitive phrase – To learn. The predicate – is – is a subject complement because it describes a characteristic of the subject. Thus, the subject/predicate pair is – To learn / is

In addition, a gerund can be the subject of the sentence. A gerund is formed by adding – ing – to a verb. for example:

Learning how to write is easy.

Thus, the subject/predicate pair in this case is – Learning/is

Compound subjects

A single predicate may have multiple subjects. Let’s consider an example from a famous nursery rhyme.

Jack and Jill ran up the hill.

In this case, both Jack and Jill are performing the same action. They ran up the hill.

Thus, the clause contains a plural subject (Jack and Jill) but only one subject/predicate pair – Jack and Jill / ran. Since – Jack and Jill – are both the actors there is no need for a comma before the conjunction. A comma in this case would be incorrect and a disruption to the flow of the sentence.

Compound Verbs

In addition, a clause may contain multiple conjugated verbs. for example, in the clause,

Jack fell down and broke his crown.

Jack, a singular noun performs two actions – fell down and broke his crown. Thus, this clause has only one compound predicate. therefore, it does not need a comma before the conjunction. Likewise, a comma in this case would be incorrect and a disruption to the flow of the sentence.

A single subject/predicate pair may have multiple actors and multiple actions. for example:

Bill, Susan and Martha went to the beach and learned how to surf.

In this case, there is only one subject/predicate pair. The subject is the group – Bill, Susan and Martha – and the predicate is the combination of action they performed – went to the beach and learned how to surf. The subject/predicate pair in this case is – Bill, Susan and Martha / went and learned.

Notice the only need for commas is to separate the series – Bill, Susan and Martha. A series with three or more elements needs a comma and a coordinating conjunction to create a pause. This pause helps with the flow of the text. Microsoft WORD will recommend a comma between the coordinating conjunction and the last element of the series. However, the coordinating conjunction, by itself, creates the necessary pause. therefore, the extra comma is optional. A series with only two elements, on the other hand, should not contain a comma. The coordinating conjunction between the two elements will create the necessary pause.

The plural personal subject pronoun – They – could replace the compound subject – Bill, Susan, and Martha.

They went to the beach and learned how to surf.

This plural subject performs two actions – went to the beach and learned how to surf.

If two distinct subjects perform two distinct verbs, then the sentence is a compound sentence. for example:

Compound Sentences

If a clause contains two separate subject predicate pairs of equal value to the complete sentence, then it is a compound sentence with two distinct subject/predicate pairs. for example,

Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.

In this case, there are two separate subject/predicate pairs. Jack performs a compound action – fell down and broke his crown, and Jill performs one action by herself – came tumbling after. Since the sentence is a compound sentence with two independent clauses and two distinct subject/predicate pairs, the comma is needed to separate the two independent clauses.

Let’s consider another example:

Bill went to the beach to get some fresh air, and Susan and Martha met up with him later.

In this case, there are three actors, Bill – is one subject that performs one verb – went to the beach. Thus, Bill/went makes one distinct subject/predicate pair. Susan and Martha together perform one action – met up with him later. Thus, Susan and Martha/met up – makes one distinct subject/predicate pair. This is a compound sentence with two independent clauses because it has two distinct subject/predicate pairs. It needs a comma and a coordinating conjunction to separate the independent clauses. The comma is needed between the coordinating conjunction that separates the two independent clauses. No comma is needed between Susan and Martha because that is a compound subject.

Complex Sentences

The above sentences contain only independent clauses. Most sentences contain a variety of clauses including independent and dependent clauses. While each clause has a subject/predicate pair, they are not always together. for example, a clause may have the subject with another dependent clause placed between its subject and its predicate. A sentence with at one dependent clause is a complex sentence. for example:

The car that Maria drives to work will need a new transmission.

The above sentence is a complex sentence because it contains a dependent clause that modifies the car. Notice that the subject of the main clause is – The car – and the predicate of the main clause is – will need a new transmission. They are separated by another clause with its own subject/predicate pair – Maria/drives. The interrupting clause – that Maria drives to work – is a dependent clause. The next several lessons will discuss dependent clauses.