Subject and Predicate

Simple explanation

Every complete English sentence is made of two parts:

• Subject — who or what the sentence is about
• Predicate — what the subject does, is, or has

Without both parts, the sentence is incomplete. It is called a fragment — and it leaves the listener or reader waiting for more.

Why it matters

Understanding subjects and predicates is the foundation of building any sentence correctly. Once you can find these two parts in any sentence, you can fix incomplete sentences, avoid run-ons, and write with much more confidence.

Breaking it down

Sentence	Subject	Predicate
The dog barked.	The dog	barked
She is a teacher.	She	is a teacher
My team finished the project.	My team	finished the project
It rains a lot in June.	It	rains a lot in June

The subject can be one word or many words. The predicate always contains the main verb.

Wrong vs right

The subject can be expanded

A simple subject is just one word (she, Ravi, the dog). An expanded subject adds more detail:

• Simple: She / Ravi / The report
• Expanded: The report I worked on all night / My colleague in the Mumbai office

The verb must still agree with the main word in the subject — not the extra details:

"The report I worked on all night is ready." (report → is, not are)

Daily life usage

1. Subject: My manager → Predicate: called me this morning.
2. Subject: The meeting → Predicate: has been cancelled.
3. Subject: Everyone in the team → Predicate: is working hard.
4. Subject: I → Predicate: don't understand this question.
5. Subject: This idea → Predicate: sounds very promising.

Practice quiz

Quick summary

• Every sentence = subject (who/what) + predicate (what about them).
• A sentence without a subject or predicate is a fragment — incomplete.
• The predicate always contains the main verb.