Parts of the Sentence: Subject and Predicate

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Parts of the Sentence Subject and Predicate
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Subject Definition

• The subject is the Who or What that the
  sentence is about.
• It is most usually found before the verb.
• The simple subject is always a noun or a group of
  words acting as a noun.
• Without a subject, the sentence is incomplete.

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Complete vs. Simple Subject

• The complete subject includes all words that
  identify the person, place, thing, or idea the
  sentence is about.
• The simple subject is the key word or words in
  the complete subject
• The children on our block always play in the
  road.

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Predicate Definition

• The predicate tells what the subject did, what
  happened to subject, or gives us more information
  about the subject.
• The subject is sometimes called What The Doer
  Does

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Clues for finding the predicate

• Most begin with the verb
• Always contains an action or state of being verb.
• Sentence would not be complete without it and a
  subject
• Could be one word or a group of words
• Ask yourself, What is the subject doing in this
  sentence? Or find the subject, then ask yourself
  the question what? after subject (We ate
  supper. We what?)

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• 1. Born in 1934 in Oklahoma, Momaday lived on
  Navajo and Apache reservations in the Southwest.
• 2. Momadays father was a Kiowa.
• 3. As a young man, Momaday attended the
  University of New Mexico and Stanford University.
• 4. In The Way to Rainy Mountain, he tells about
  the myths and history of the Kiowa people.
• 5. The book includes poems, an essay, and stories
  about the Kiowa people.

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• 6. The Way to Rainy Mountain was published in
  1969.
• 7. After Momadays book came works by other
  modern American Indian writers.
• 8. William Least Heat-Moon traveled in a van
  across the United States and wrote about his
  journey.
• 9. Was he inspired to write by his travels?
• 10. Readers of this Osage writer enjoy his
  beautiful descriptions of nature.

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• 1. Ray Bradbury is also a writer of science
  fiction.
• 2. The Golden Apples of the Sun is a collection
  of Bradburys short stories.
• 3. Is your favorite story in that book A Sound
  of Thunder?
• 4. The main character in the story is called Mr.
  Eckels.
• 5. For ten thousand dollars, Mr. Eckels joins
  Time Safari, Inc.
• 6. He is looking for the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus
  rex.
• 7. With four other men, Bradburys hero travels
  more than sixty million years back in time.
• 8. On the safari, trouble develops.
• 9. Because of one mistake, the past is changed.
• 10. Do the results of that mistake affect the
  future?