Transcript Subject and Predicate

The sentence is made up
of two basic parts: the
subject and the predicate. The predicate may
be simple or it may be
extremely complicated.
The subject of a sentence
is the main noun, the noun
doing the action. Every
sentence has a subject,
although sometimes the
subject is implied. To
find the subject of a sentence, first find the main
verb. Then ask yourself,
“Who or what is doing this
action?” More often, the
subject comes first in
a sentence, and putting
the subject first is
probably the more
straightforward way to
organize a sentence. But
for variety, and even for
suspense, writers can
choose to reverse the
order, putting the
predicate first and the
subject last, or putting
parts of the predicate on
either side of the sub-ject.
The foolproof way to find
the subject is first to
locate the verb and then to
ask yourself who or what is
doing this action?
My dog has three
legs, two of which
are wooden, and the other
made of pure gold.
My uvula is very
sore for some
unknown reason.
Ask Yourself: “What is”
Answer: “uvula”
• Those socks have been under
the bed for three weeks.
• (To find the subject ask yourself,
“What has been?”)
Answer: the “socks”
The subject and verb must agree
in number. This means that a
singular subject takes a singular
verb, and a plural subject takes
a plural verb. You don’t have to
distinguish singular verbs from
plural verbs; you have to distinguish between singular and plural
subjects. Get it? Because if
you can determine whether a
subject is singular or plural,
your ear will match it with the
correct verb. (Trust me!) If
your subject is singular, match
the verb with it; if your
subject is plural, use they.
Choose the Correct Subject & Verb
• The danger
of eating too
many chips
(do, does)
not worry
her.