Simple Subjects & Predicates

Every sentence has a few key words that are more important than the rest.

Look at this sentence: Busy sparrows hopped around in the grass. The subject of this sentence is Busy sparrows. The key word of the subject is sparrows. The predicate of this sentence is hopped around in the grass. The key word in the predicate is hopped.

Look at this sentence: The crickets chirped loudly outside the cabin. The subject of this sentence is The crickets. The key word of the subject is crickets. The predicate of this sentence is chirped loudly outside the cabin. The key word of the predicate is chirped.

Notice that when you put the two key words in a sentence together, they make sense. With just those two words, you have an idea of what the sentence is about. Sparrows hopped Crickets chirped

These key words are called the simple subject and the simple predicate. Simple subject: The key word in the subject is the simple subject. Simple predicate: The key word in the predicate is the simple predicate. The simple predicate is always the verb in the sentence.

What are the subject and the predicate of a sentence? The subject and the predicate are the most important parts of a sentence. If one of them is missing, you don’t have a complete sentence. The rest of the sentence is built around them.

How do you find the subject and the predicate? First, find the predicate in the sentence. (Remember, a predicate is a word that tells an action or a state of being.) Then ask who or what about the predicate. This will tell you the subject of the predicate.

Look at this example: The busy sparrows hopped around in the grass. Find the simple predicate: hopped (the word that tells action or state of being) Ask what hopped: Sparrows. Sparrows is the simple subject of the sentence. Hopped is the simple predicate.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. A box of apples arrived from Washington. What is the simple predicate? arrived What arrived? box Box is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. Our new computer prints photographs. What is the simple predicate? prints What prints? computer Computer is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. A tiny gray kitten slept on our front porch. What is the simple predicate? slept What slept? kitten Kitten is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. The car across the street has a flat tire. What is the simple predicate? has What has? car Car is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. The crowd rose to its feet to cheer for the team. What is the simple predicate? rose What rose? crowd Crowd is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. A heavy snow covered the houses and streets. What is the simple predicate? covered What covered? snow Snow is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. The woman in the red shirt is my aunt. What is the simple predicate? is What is? woman Woman is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. Three little bluebirds made a nest in the oak tree. What is the simple predicate? made What made? bluebirds Bluebirds is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. My sister won first place in the spelling bee. What is the simple predicate? won What won? sister Sister is the simple subject of this sentence.

Find the simple subject and the simple predicate. A shaggy white puppy wandered into the room. What is the simple predicate? wandered What wandered? puppy Puppy is the simple subject of this sentence.

Remember: All sentences must have a subject and a predicate. The predicate is the action (or state of being) in the sentence. The subject is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something in sentence.