Subject And Predicate

Good children obey their parents.

In this sentence the words naming the things about which we think are good children; so we call good children the subject of the sentence.

Are the horses here?

In this sentence the words naming the things about which we think are the horses; so we call the horses the subject of the sentence.

Study your lessons.

In this sentence, the word naming the person or persons who are to do the studying does not appear. We must think of a proper word for a subject to place before the word study. We must understand what word would make sense, if we decided to write the subject.

You study your lessons would make good sense, so we say that the subject is you understood.

When the subject of a sentence is not expressed, we say it is understood.

The subject of an imperative sentence is usually omitted.

The subject of a sentence is the word or words that name the thing about which something is asserted.

In the sentence, Good children obey their parents, the words obey their parents express what we think about good children, so we call obey their parents the predicate of the sentence.

The predicate of a sentence is the word or words that express what is asserted about the thing named by the subject.

The two essential parts of a sentence are the subject and the predicate.

A subject combined with its predicate is called a statement.

Point out the subject and the predicate in each of the following sentences:

1. The nightingale sings sweetly.

2. Men are but children of a larger growth.

3. The morning air was filled with the music of the birds.

4. Will you join me at twelve o'clock?

5. Call at my house on your way home.

6. The camel is called the ship of the desert

7. Learn to labor and to wait.

8. How blue the sky looks !

9. The seeds of the pine tree are hidden in the pine cone.

10. The greatest and sublimest power is often simple patience.

11. Deep in the wave is a coral grove.

12. The springing grass and the swelling buds give promise of warmer weather.