Answered By: Rachel Willard Last Updated: May 08, 2017 Views: 83596
Every complete sentence has a subject and a predicate. The subject is the element at the beginning of a sentence that performs the action:
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The dog ran in circles.
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I stubbed my toe.
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His car would not start.
The predicate is what comes after the subject. In a simple sentence, the predicate can be just a verb (the action happening in the sentence):
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She cried.
In the predicate, there may also be an object (the thing receiving the action):
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He kicked the ball.
In this example, he is the subject, and kicked the ball is the predicate, made up of a verb and an object.
Academic writing is often more complicated than this, but these are the essential building blocks. To have a complete sentence, a writer must have a subject as well as a predicate that contains a verb.
Additional Resources:
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View some examples and further explanation of the general sentence elements.
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Check out a grammar quiz or an interactive grammar module to practice your grammar skills.
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Watch the archived and recorded Mastering the Mechanics of Writing webinar series.
Further Questions?
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Do you have other general writing questions? E-mail the Writing Center at writingsupport@waldenu.edu.
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Want to peruse other writing resources? Go to the Writing Center’s homepage.
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