What is a Subject?

We already discussed that a sentence must contain a subject and at least one verb. But do you know what is a subject and why it is needed? Well yeah if you know then it’s good but if you don’t then it’s important to know what is a subject in English grammar. So, a Subject is something or someone for which the sentence is written. Still confused, don’t worry, let’s understand with an example,

John likes to eat mangoes.

The above sentence implies that John is a person who likes to eat mangoes. So, the sentence is about John, the person, and therefore, here the subject is “John”. Let’s take another example:

We are going to the shopping mall.

Here the sentence is indicating a group of people who are going to the shopping mall. So “We” is the subject here. Some more examples are given below, where highlighted part is the subject:

  • Reema is knitting her sweater.
  • The old man has died due to a heart attack.
  • I was buying some apples.
  • After finishing the meal, he decided to order a dessert.

Subject
What is a Subject?

Now we know that what is a subject, let’s understand why we need to add a subject in our sentences. 

Why we need the Subject?

So if we don’t add the subject in our sentences, the sentence will no longer be a sentence. Confused? Well, let me explain. Let’s take an example…

He needs a haircut.

Here “He” is the subject. But what if we remove the subject? The sentence will become

needs a haircut.

Does this make any sense? Of course No! Because we don’t know who needs the haircut here. And thus, the sentence is no longer a sentence because it lost its meaning or can say it’s meaningless now. By the way, these incomplete sentences which don’t have meaning are known as Phrases. We will discuss Phrases and Clauses later. But for now, we got to know the importance of Subject in sentences.


Types of Subjects:

Like we have types of sentences, similarly, we have types of subjects as well and it is necessary to know the types as well in grammar. So, basically, there are three types of subjects that we used in our sentences. These are as follows:

Types of Subject
Types of Subject


1- Simple Subject: 

As its name implies, Simple Subject is the normal subject that we use in our sentences. In other words, Simple Subject is the common subject that is required in our sentence. For example,

  My Aunt is baking a cake.

Here “my aunt” is the subject and she is baking the cake. The sentence is assertive and thus has a simple subject. Other examples of Simple Subject are:

  • The Gardner was watering the plants.
  • He is a good boy.
  • They will play Chess tomorrow.

2- Complete Subject:

The complete subject is the subject that fully describes the subject. Confused? In short, The complete subject is the simple subject in addition to the quality of the subject (usually with adjective). Let’s take the same example as we took in the starting,

   The old man has died due to a heart attack.

Here “The old man” is a complete subject because it is describing the quality of the person (or man), i.e, the man is old. What if we have to make this sentence with a simple subject? It will look like this:

    The man has died due to a heart attack. 

So that’s the basic difference between the Simple and a Complete subject. Other examples of Complete Subject are:

  • The Lady with the great wealth has moved to London.
  • This bridge has been built by hard-working workers.
  • That skinny boy is now taking a good diet.

3- Compound Subject:

Sometimes there is more than one subject in a sentence and they are joined by something we called connectors or Conjunctions (like and, but, if, etc.). So when there is more than one subject in a sentence connected by any conjunction, it is said to be the Compound subject. For example,

Rohan and his father went fishing last Sunday

Here, “Rohan” and “his father” are subjects connected by the conjunction  “and”. Therefore, the subject in the sentence is Compound. Other examples of Compound subject  are as follows:

  • He invited her to the party but she didn’t come.
  • I asked him if he will go.
  • The teacher was dictating and the students were writing.

What is a Predicate?

If you have understood what is a subject then congratulations, you are already familiar with the predicate as well. Confused? Well, formally the predicate is the part of the sentence that implies about the subject, i.e, the description of the subject is given by the Predicate. Or in other words, Predicate is the rest of the sentence other than the subject. For example,

Mohan is feeding his dog.

Here the highlighted part is the predicate. In this sentence, Mohan is a subject who is feeding his dog, and “is feeding his dog” is explaining the subject. That’s why it is the predicate while Mohan is the subject. Some other examples of the predicate are:

  • They were playing hockey in the park.
  • Rohit is our class monitor.
  • My cousin has three shirts of the same colour.

What is Predicate
What is Predicate


Why we need Predicate?

The answer is obvious, if we only use the subject in our sentences then the sentence may seem to be complete but actually, without the predicate it will be still incomplete. For example,

                            Ram drinks.

The above example can be considered as a sentence because it has both subject and verb. But if we look into the meaning of the sentence, it seems like Ram has the habit of drinking, and drinks more often. On the other hand, if we write the sentence with a predicate

                          Ram drinks milk. 

The meaning of the sentence completely changed and therefore the sentence is now complete in its meaning and structure. Therefore, we need a predicate to represent the actual meaning of the sentences and complete them.


Types of Predicates:

Predicate also has its types like the subject does. Moreover, Predicate has the same types as the subject and is almost the same. The types of predicates are as follows:

Types of Predicate
Types of Predicate


1- Simple Predicate: 

The simple predicate is like the normal predicate that we use in the sentences. For example,

  My Aunt is baking a cake.

Here “my aunt” is the subject and “is baking the cake” is the predicate. The predicate is simple and is not connected by any connector or modifier. Other examples of Simple Predicate are:

  • The Gardner was watering the plants.
  • He is a good boy.
  • They will play Chess tomorrow.

2- Complete Predicate:

The complete predicate is the predicate that fully describes the predicate. Confused? In short, The complete predicate describes the subject more than the simple predicate (usually with the help of an adjective). Let’s take an example,

                        She lost in the hot desert.

Here “lost in the hot desert” is a complete predicate because it is describing the quality of the desert, i.e, the desert is hot. What if we have to make this sentence with a simple predicate? It will look like this:

                        She lost in the desert. 

So that’s the basic difference between the Simple and a Complete predicate. Other examples of Complete Subject are:

  • They always debate on pointless issues.
  • I got hit by that red car.
  • She dived into the deep pool.

3- Compound Predicate:

Like the above ones, the Compound predicate is also similar to the compound subject. A compound predicate implies a sentence with two or more verbs connected together with any connector/conjunction. For example,

He brought his book but forgot to done his homework.

Here, “brought” and “forgot” are two verbs joined by the connector “but”. That’s why it has the compound predicate. Other examples of Compound subject  are as follows:

  • He invited me to his party but I couldn’t go.
  • I finished my dinner and washed the plates.
  • You will pass if you work hard.

Important Note:

Imperative sentences may have hidden subjects and can be confusing sometimes. Let’s take an example:

Pass the salt.

Here, the subject is not written but it is quite obvious that we are saying someone to pass the salt. So it has the hidden subject but yes it has the subject while the whole sentence is the predicate. Other examples are:

  • Sit down!
  • Move away.
  • Wash your clothes.
  • Wait here!
  • Get out of here.
  • Please shut the door.
  • Be there at sharp 12 O’clock.

All of the above sentences are imperative and have hidden subjects. And now you have learned the subject and the predicate along with their types!

Test your skills:

  • Separate the Subject and Predicate from the following sentences:
  1. The boy stood on the chair.
  2. I shot an arrow in the air.
  3. The early bird catches the worm.
  4. We should leave now.
  5. He has a good memory.
  6. A sick room should be well aired.
  7. The Earth revolves rounds the sun.
  8. The dog was barking at someone.
  9. The lady with the golden crown is the queen.

Let’s see how many you got them right! Don’t forget to share your answer in the comment below.