The two main components of English sentences are subjects and predicates. Together, they form clauses.<\/p>\n
The complete subject is the main part of the sentence that contains at least one noun (or noun equivalent) and all of its modifiers.<\/p>\n
The complete predicate contains at least one verb and its auxiliaries, modifiers, and completing words if they are present. It explains all that is being said about the singular or compound sentence subject.<\/p>\n
If you remove the subject and its modifiers from a sentence, everything that remains is the predicate.<\/p>\n
\nExamples<\/strong><\/em>
\nJ.J.<\/u>\u00a0(complete subject)\u00a0is an excellent football player<\/u> (complete predicate).<\/p>\nThe lady in red<\/u> (complete subject)\u00a0has the envelope<\/u> (complete predicate).<\/p>\n
Always eager to help, Miranda<\/u> (complete subject)\u00a0is volunteering at the food drive today<\/u> (complete predicate).<\/p>\n
Josh and Emily<\/u> (complete subject) will graduate college in two more years<\/u> (complete predicate).\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What Is a Compound Predicate?<\/h2>\n
A compound predicate is a predicate with two or more verbs or verb phrases connected by a conjunction. It says two or more things about the same singular or compound subject.<\/p>\n
\nExamples<\/strong><\/em>
\nJ.J.\u00a0plays football in the fall<\/u> and runs track in the spring<\/u>.<\/p>\nThe lady in red has the envelope<\/u> but does not yet know who will request it from her<\/u>.<\/p>\n
Always eager to help, Miranda is volunteering at the food drive today<\/u> and assisting with the bake sale tomorrow<\/u>.<\/p>\n
In two more years, Josh and Emily will<\/u> graduate college<\/u>, take a short break<\/u>, and then enroll in a master’s program<\/u>.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Compound predicates can also be formed by simple predicates alone. Simple predicates are the main verbs and their auxiliaries without complements or modifiers.<\/p>\n
\nExamples<\/strong><\/em>
\nJ.J.\u00a0trains<\/u> and competes<\/u>.<\/p>\nThe lady in red observes<\/u> and calculates<\/u>.<\/p>\n
Miranda volunteers<\/u> and assists<\/u>.<\/p>\n
Josh and Emily study<\/u> and plan<\/u>.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Compound Predicates vs. Compound Sentences<\/h2>\n
Compound predicates are different from compound sentences. A compound sentence is made of two more independent clauses. The clauses each have their own subject, and they are separated by a conjunction. They are also typically separated by a comma.<\/p>\n
\nExamples<\/strong><\/em>
\nJ.J.\u00a0plays football in the fall<\/u>, and his brother plays baseball in the spring<\/u>.<\/p>\nThe lady in red observed the crowd<\/u>, and the agent waited to approach her<\/u>.<\/p>\n
The food drive takes place today<\/u>, and the bake sale will happen tomorrow<\/u>.<\/p>\n
Josh studies behavioral science<\/u>, Emily studies Eastern languages<\/u>, and they will both enroll in a master’s program shortly after graduating college<\/u>.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How Compound Predicates Are Useful<\/h2>\n
Compound predicates serve crisper, more-precise writing by replacing wordy, loose, or redundant sentence constructions.<\/p>\n
Wordy: <\/em><\/strong>J.J.\u00a0plays football in the fall, and he runs track in the spring, and then in summer he attends athletic camps.
\nBetter with compound predicate: <\/em><\/strong>J.J.\u00a0plays football in the fall, runs track in the spring, and attends athletic camps in summer.<\/p>\nLoose: <\/em><\/strong>First the lady in red with the envelope entered the crowd, and then she looked around, and next she waited for the recipient to appear.
\nBetter with compound predicate: <\/em><\/strong>The lady in red with the envelope entered the crowd, looked around, and waited for the recipient to appear.<\/p>\nRedundant: <\/em><\/strong>Josh will graduate college in two more years. Josh will also take a short break. Josh will enroll in a master’s program as well.
\nBetter with compound predicate: <\/em><\/strong>In two more years, Josh will graduate college, take a short break, and enroll in a master’s program.<\/p>\nRelated Topics<\/h3>\n
Predicating Our Knowledge of Predicates<\/a>
\nSimple Predicates<\/a>
\nFinding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects<\/a>
\nDependent and Independent Clauses<\/a>
\nConnecting Sentences with Commas and Semicolons<\/a><\/p>\nPop Quiz<\/h2>\n
Applying what you’ve learned about compound predicates, identify any compound predicates that appear in the sentences below.<\/p>\n
1. Tom and Kate want to visit the museum, but Barbara and Brian prefer the aquarium.<\/p>\n
2. Chinedu finished the experiment and submitted his report to the review board.<\/p>\n
3. It rained in the morning. The sun came back out in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
4. Ethan will prepare dinner and seat the guests.<\/p>\n
5. The accountant said that Jia Li should track her expenses and keep the receipts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/h3>\n
1. Tom and Kate want to visit the museum, but Barbara and Brian prefer the aquarium.<\/p>\n
2. Chinedu finished the experiment<\/u> and submitted his report to the review board<\/u>.<\/p>\n
3. It rained in the morning. The sun came back out in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
4. Ethan will<\/u> prepare dinner<\/u> and seat the guests<\/u>.<\/p>\n
5. The accountant said that Jia Li should<\/u> track her expenses<\/u> and keep the receipts<\/u>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The two main components of English sentences are subjects and predicates. Together, they form clauses. The complete subject is the main part of the sentence that contains at least one noun (or noun equivalent) and all of its modifiers. The complete predicate contains at least one verb and its auxiliaries, modifiers, and completing words if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clauses-sentences","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4636"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5294,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4636\/revisions\/5294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}