Even from school, everyone knows that the predicate and the subject are the main members of the sentence. However, not everyone understands exactly what this mysterious definition means. Let's try to fill the gaps in our knowledge and understand in detail what the predicate and the subject are. What parts of speech can they be expressed? And in what cases are punctuation marks such as dashes separated in letters?
Definition
To understand what is predicate and subject, you need to understand their definitions.
The subject is one of the main members of the proposal, answering the questions: who ? or what ? and denoting the subject referred to in the proposal. On the territory of the whole region, warm weather was established . In this example, the word “weather” acts as the subject (that is, the subject of speech), and those grammatical features that the other main member of this sentence, the predicate, depend on it.
The predicate is one of the main members of the proposal, answering the questions: what to do ? what ? what's going on who is (or what is ) an item ? It denotes the action that the subject of speech does, its condition or sign. In the above example, the verb " established" acts as a predicate. From the subject, he received such signs as the singular and the ending of the feminine.
Ways to express subject and predicate
This is one of the most difficult questions in this topic. Indeed, in order to understand what the predicate and the subject are, it is necessary to be able to correctly determine them in speech.
Subject
The subject in the sentence can be expressed in such parts of speech:
- Noun or pronoun (in I. p.). The weather was good.
- Adjective, numeral or participle (in I. p.). Seven do not wait.
- Composite constructions:
- numeral + noun: A lot of people crowded into the room ;
- adjective + preposition + noun: The best athlete did not enter the start of the competition ;
- pronoun + adjective or participle: Something light rustled in the air ;
- noun + preposition + noun: Elena and her husband came to visit friends.
- Infinitive. Smoking is harmful to health .
Predicate
What is said in the sentence can be expressed in the following parts of speech:
- Verb (simple or compound). Marina dreams of becoming a biologist.
- Noun. Victor is my only love.
- Adjective or Communion. How rich is the nature of the Ural Mountains!
Dash between subject and predicate
The table below illustrates in which cases the main members
sentences are separated on the letter by this punctuation mark.
Dash Cases | Examples |
noun in I. p. - n. in I. p. | My years are my wealth |
noun in I. p. - verb. neopr. f. | The main task for the newlyweds is to learn to understand each other |
verb neopr. f. - verb. neopr. f. | Smoking - harm to health |
verb neopr. f. - noun. in I. p. | Love is an art |
noun in I. p. - idiomatic expression | My friend is a shirt-guy! |
how many. num. - how many. num. | A family of six - forty two |
how many. num. - noun. in I. p. | Eight hundred meters - the length of the treadmill of the stadium |
noun in I. p. - number. num. | The depth of our pool is four meters |
It should be remembered that such a predicate and a subject, as well as the fact that when changing places in a sentence, they change their functions. My best friend is Julia . Julia is my best friend.