GrammarBook.com

Your #1 Source for Grammar and Punctuation

Compound Predicates

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 they are present. It explains all that is being said about the singular or compound sentence subject.

If you remove the subject and its modifiers from a sentence, everything that remains is the predicate.

Examples
J.J. (complete subject) is an excellent football player (complete predicate).
The lady in red (complete subject) has the envelope (complete predicate).
Always eager to help, Miranda (complete subject) is volunteering at the food drive today (complete predicate).
Josh and Emily (complete subject) will graduate college in two more years (complete predicate).

What Is a Compound Predicate?

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.

Examples
J.J. plays football in the fall and runs track in the spring.
The lady in red has the envelope but does not yet know who will request it from her.
Always eager to help, Miranda is volunteering at the food drive today and assisting with the bake sale tomorrow.
In two more years, Josh and Emily will graduate college, take a short break, and then enroll in a master's program.

Compound predicates can also be formed by simple predicates alone. Simple predicates are the main verbs and their auxiliaries without complements or modifiers.

Examples
J.J. trains and competes.
The lady in red observes and calculates.
Miranda volunteers and assists.
Josh and Emily study and plan.

Compound Predicates vs. Compound Sentences

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.

Examples
J.J. plays football in the fall, and his brother plays baseball in the spring.
The lady in red observed the crowd, and the agent waited to approach her.
The food drive takes place today, and the bake sale will happen tomorrow.
Josh studies behavioral science, Emily studies Eastern languages, and they will both enroll in a master's program shortly after graduating college.

How Compound Predicates Are Useful

Compound predicates serve crisper, more-precise writing by replacing wordy, loose, or redundant sentence constructions.

Wordy: J.J. plays football in the fall, and he runs track in the spring, and then in summer he attends athletic camps.
Better with compound predicate: J.J. plays football in the fall, runs track in the spring, and attends athletic camps in summer.

Loose: 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.
Better with compound predicate: The lady in red with the envelope entered the crowd, looked around, and waited for the recipient to appear.

Redundant: 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.
Better with compound predicate: In two more years, Josh will graduate college, take a short break, and enroll in a master's program.


Related Articles

Predicating Our Knowledge of Predicates
Simple Predicates
Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects
Dependent and Independent Clauses
Connecting Sentences with Commas and Semicolons

View and comment on this
article on our website.


Pop Quiz

Applying what you've learned about compound predicates, identify any compound predicates that appear in the sentences below.

1. Tom and Kate want to visit the museum, but Barbara and Brian prefer the aquarium.

2. Chinedu finished the experiment and submitted his report to the review board.

3. It rained in the morning. The sun came back out in the afternoon.

4. Ethan will prepare dinner and seat the guests.

5. The accountant said that Jia Li should track her expenses and keep the receipts.

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation


by Lester Kaufman and Jane Straus

Revised and Expanded Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Coming Next Month

The twelfth edition of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation is set for a May 4, 2021, debut. It has been seven years since the eleventh edition was published. So when the publisher, Jossey-Bass, requested another go-round, the team at GrammarBook.com was elated.

You will find the new, extensively revised and expanded version in keeping with our consistent vision of a direct, concise, unfussy grammar book.

The Blue Book, which started life as a booklet for California state employees, has now sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Over the years, we’ve seen the number of subscribers to our weekly newsletter grow from dozens to scores to hundreds; now, there are over 40,000 of you worldwide.

The new edition continues to stress the difference between rules on the one hand and conventions, customs, and tendencies on the other. We also added previously uncovered material, such as irregular verbs, that have been popular topics in our newsletters and blogs. In addition, the Confusing Words and Homonyms section has been greatly expanded, and we have developed all-new quizzes covering even more topics.

The new Blue Book takes on English in all its often maddening complexity, acknowledging its quirks, gray areas, exceptions, limitations, and contradictions. We realize that people want straight answers, but with English, there sometimes aren’t any, and we would be remiss in saying otherwise.

Pre-order your copy of the new edition of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation—order your copy of the book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble now!

Get Even More Useful Grammar Tips

In addition to our weekly newsletter, we post new entries about American English grammar on Mondays and Fridays. The following are two of our most recent articles. Bookmark our GrammarBook blog and be sure to check it often.

Passive Voice vs. Active Voice: What You Need to Know

Should You Write Alright or All Right?

Free BONUS Quiz for You!

[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscribers-Only Quizzes. Click here to take a Hyphens Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!

We will be adding many more quizzes this year to our already substantial list of quizzes. If you have suggestions for topics we have not yet covered, please send us a message at help@grammarbook.com.

Hundreds of Additional Quizzes
at Your Fingertips

Subscribe now to receive hundreds of additional English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!


Teachers and Employers

Save hours of valuable time! You may assign quizzes to your students and employees and have their scores tallied, organized, and reported to you! Let GrammarBook.com take the hassle out of teaching English!

"Fun to test my skills."

"The explanations really help ... thanks!"

"I can select the quizzes to assign to my students, and then the results are reported to me automatically!"

Find out more about our
subscription packages

99¢

QUIZZES

Don't need all the quizzes?

You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each.

Purchase yours here.

If you think you have found an error in a quiz, please email us at help@grammarbook.com

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation


by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern

The Authority on English Grammar! Eleventh Edition Now Available

An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.

Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!

To order the book, simply click the link to order the book from the GrammarBook.com website.

Order Your Copy Today!
 

Wordplay



But is the proofreader still fine?


Pop Quiz Answers

1. Tom and Kate want to visit the museum, but Barbara and Brian prefer the aquarium.

2. Chinedu finished the experiment and submitted his report to the review board.

3. It rained in the morning. The sun came back out in the afternoon.

4. Ethan will prepare dinner and seat the guests.

5. The accountant said that Jia Li should track her expenses and keep the receipts.

English In A Snap:
68 One-Minute English Usage Videos FREE

Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch.

Forward this e-newsletter to your friends and colleagues.

If you received this FREE weekly e-newsletter from a friend, click here to have it sent to you each week.

Look for more grammar tips or writing advice from GrammarBook.com next week.

Miss a recent newsletter? Click here to view past editions.