Subject vs. Predicate — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on September 20, 2023
The subject in a sentence tells who or what the sentence is about, while the predicate tells what the subject is doing or what is happening to it. In the sentence "The dog barks," "The dog" is the subject and "barks" is the predicate.
Difference Between Subject and Predicate
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
In the study of English grammar, the subject is one of the two main components of a sentence. The predicate, on the other hand, is the other essential part. The subject typically is a noun or pronoun that indicates what the sentence is about. The predicate, conversely, contains the verb and describes what action the subject is performing or what state it is in.
The subject usually comes before the predicate in English sentences. For example, in the sentence "She reads," "She" is the subject and "reads" is the predicate. Both the subject and the predicate are indispensable for forming a complete sentence, and one cannot exist without the other in declarative sentences.
Simple subjects can be just a single noun or pronoun, whereas compound subjects involve more than one. For instance, in the sentence "John and Mary play," "John and Mary" form a compound subject. Predicates can also be simple or compound. In the sentence "He reads and writes," "reads and writes" is a compound predicate.
Identifying the subject and predicate in complex sentences can sometimes be challenging. In the sentence "When he reads, he learns," the subject of the main clause is "he," and the predicate is "learns." The clause "When he reads" is a dependent clause with its own subject ("he") and predicate ("reads"). Both subject and predicate play critical roles in understanding sentence structure and meaning.
Comparison Chart
Position in Sentence
Usually comes before the verb
Usually comes after the subject
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Grammatical Role
Who or what the sentence is about
What the subject is doing
Components
Noun or Pronoun
Verb and accompanying words
Complexity
Can be simple or compound
Can be simple or compound
Importance
Essential for a complete sentence
Essential for a complete sentence
Compare with Definitions
Subject
The main focus of a sentence.
The subject of the sentence 'Dogs bark' is 'Dogs.'
Predicate
Describes what the subject is doing or what is happening to it.
In 'The door opens,' 'opens' is the predicate.
Subject
The entity performing the action in a sentence.
'John' is the subject in 'John eats.'
Predicate
Can contain additional information like objects or adverbs.
In 'He runs quickly,' 'runs quickly' is the predicate.
Subject
The part that comes before the predicate in a sentence.
'The cat' is the subject in 'The cat sleeps.'
Predicate
An essential element for forming a complete sentence.
A sentence must have a predicate.
Subject
A person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with
I've said all there is to be said on the subject
He's the subject of a major new biography
Predicate
To base or establish (a statement or action, for example)
I predicated my argument on the facts.
Subject
A branch of knowledge studied or taught in a school, college, or university
Maths is not my best subject
Predicate
To state or affirm as an attribute or quality of something
The sermon predicated the perfectibility of humankind.
Subject
A member of a state other than its ruler, especially one owing allegiance to a monarch or other supreme ruler
The legislation is applicable only to British subjects
Predicate
To carry the connotation of; imply.
Subject
A noun or noun phrase functioning as one of the main components of a clause, being the element about which the rest of the clause is predicated.
Predicate
(Logic) To make (a term or expression) the predicate of a proposition.
Subject
A thinking or feeling entity; the conscious mind; the ego, especially as opposed to anything external to the mind.
Predicate
To proclaim or assert; declare.
Subject
Likely or prone to be affected by (a particular condition or occurrence, typically an unwelcome or unpleasant one)
He was subject to bouts of manic depression
Predicate
To make a statement or assertion.
Subject
Dependent or conditional upon
The proposed merger is subject to the approval of the shareholders
Predicate
(Grammar) One of the two main constituents of a sentence or clause, modifying the subject and including the verb, objects, or phrases governed by the verb, as opened the door in Jane opened the door or is very sleepy in The child is very sleepy.
Subject
Under the authority of
Ministers are subject to the laws of the land
Predicate
(Logic) That part of a proposition that is affirmed or denied about the subject. For example, in the proposition We are mortal, mortal is the predicate.
Subject
Conditionally upon
Subject to the EC's agreement, we intend to set up an enterprise zone in the area
Predicate
(Grammar) Of or belonging to the predicate of a sentence or clause.
Subject
Cause or force someone or something to undergo (a particular experience or form of treatment, typically an unwelcome or unpleasant one)
He'd subjected her to a terrifying ordeal
Predicate
Stated or asserted; predicated.
Subject
Bring (a person or country) under one's control or jurisdiction, typically by using force
The city had been subjected to Macedonian rule
Predicate
(grammar) The part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by.
Subject
Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others
Subject to the law.
Predicate
(logic) A term of a statement, where the statement may be true or false depending on whether the thing referred to by the values of the statement's variables has the property signified by that (predicative) term.
A propositional variable may be treated as a nullary predicate.
A predicate is either valid, satisfiable, or unsatisfiable.
Subject
Prone; disposed
A child who is subject to colds.
Predicate
(computing) An operator or function that returns either true or false.
Subject
Likely to incur or receive; exposed
A directive subject to misinterpretation.
Predicate
(grammar) Of or related to the predicate of a sentence or clause.
Subject
Contingent or dependent
A vacation subject to changing weather.
Predicate
Predicated, stated.
Subject
One who is under the rule of another or others, especially one who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.
Predicate
(law) Relating to or being any of a series of criminal acts upon which prosecution for racketeering may be predicated.
Subject
One concerning which something is said or done; a person or thing being discussed or dealt with
A subject of gossip.
Predicate
(transitive) To announce, assert, or proclaim publicly.
Subject
Something that is treated or indicated in a work of art.
Predicate
(transitive) To assume or suppose; to infer.
Subject
(Music) A theme of a composition, especially a fugue.
Predicate
To base (on); to assert on the grounds of.
Subject
A course or area of study
Math is her best subject.
Predicate
To make a term (or expression) the predicate of a statement.
Subject
A basis for action; a cause.
Predicate
To assert or state as an attribute or quality of something.
Subject
One that experiences or is subjected to something
The subject of ridicule.
Predicate
To assert to belong to something; to affirm (one thing of another); as, to predicate whiteness of snow.
Subject
A person or animal that is the object of medical or scientific study
The experiment involved 12 subjects.
Predicate
To found; to base.
Subject
A corpse intended for anatomical study and dissection.
Predicate
To affirm something of another thing; to make an affirmation.
Subject
One who is under surveillance
The subject was observed leaving the scene of the murder.
Predicate
That which is affirmed or denied of the subject. In these propositions, "Paper is white," "Ink is not white," whiteness is the predicate affirmed of paper and denied of ink.
Subject
(Grammar) The noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in a sentence or clause that denotes the doer of the action or what is described by the predicate.
Predicate
The word or words in a proposition which express what is affirmed of the subject.
Subject
(Logic) The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.
Predicate
Predicated.
Subject
The mind or thinking part as distinguished from the object of thought.
Predicate
(logic) what is predicated of the subject of a proposition; the second term in a proposition is predicated of the first term by means of the copula;
`Socrates is a man' predicates manhood of Socrates
Subject
A being that undergoes personal conscious or unconscious experience of itself and of the world.
Predicate
One of the two main constituents of a sentence; the predicate contains the verb and its complements
Subject
The essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes.
Predicate
Make the (grammatical) predicate in a proposition;
The predicate `dog' is predicated of the subject `Fido' in the sentence `Fido is a dog'
Subject
To cause to experience, undergo, or be acted upon
Suspects subjected to interrogation.
Rocks subjected to intense pressure.
Predicate
Affirm or declare as an attribute or quality of;
The speech predicated the fitness of the candidate to be President
Subject
To subjugate; subdue.
Predicate
Involve as a necessary condition of consequence; as in logic;
Solving the problem is predicated on understanding it well
Subject
To submit to the authority of
Peoples that subjected themselves to the emperor.
Predicate
The part of a sentence containing the verb.
'Eats' is the predicate in 'John eats.'
Subject
Likely to be affected by or to experience something.
A country subject to extreme heat
Menu listings and prices are subject to change.
He's subject to sneezing fits.
Predicate
Usually comes after the subject in the sentence.
In 'She sings,' 'sings' is the predicate.
Subject
Conditional upon something; used with to.
The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.
Subject
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Subject
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
Subject
(grammar) In a clause: the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are usually the same.
In the sentence ‘The cat ate the mouse’, ‘the cat’ is the subject, ‘the mouse’ being the object.
Subject
An actor; one who takes action.
The subjects and objects of power.
Subject
The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
Subject
A particular area of study.
Her favorite subject is physics.
Subject
A citizen in a monarchy.
I am a British subject.
Subject
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
Subject
(music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
Subject
A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
Subject
(philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
Subject
(logic) That of which something is stated.
Subject
(math) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.
0, we have x
Subject
To cause (someone or something) to undergo a particular experience, especially one that is unpleasant or unwanted.
I came here to buy souvenirs, not to be subjected to a tirade of abuse!
Subject
(transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.
Subject
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Subject
Placed under the power of another; specifically (International Law), owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state; as, Jamaica is subject to Great Britain.
Esau was never subject to Jacob.
Subject
Exposed; liable; prone; disposed; as, a country subject to extreme heat; men subject to temptation.
All human things are subject to decay.
Subject
Obedient; submissive.
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities.
Subject
That which is placed under the authority, dominion, control, or influence of something else.
Subject
Specifically: One who is under the authority of a ruler and is governed by his laws; one who owes allegiance to a sovereign or a sovereign state; as, a subject of Queen Victoria; a British subject; a subject of the United States.
Was never subject longed to be a king,As I do long and wish to be a subject.
The subject must obey his prince, because God commands it, human laws require it.
Subject
That which is subjected, or submitted to, any physical operation or process; specifically (Anat.), a dead body used for the purpose of dissection.
Subject
That which is brought under thought or examination; that which is taken up for discussion, or concerning which anything is said or done.
Make choice of a subject, beautiful and noble, which . . . shall afford an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate.
The unhappy subject of these quarrels.
Subject
The person who is treated of; the hero of a piece; the chief character.
Writers of particular lives . . . are apt to be prejudiced in favor of their subject.
Subject
That of which anything is affirmed or predicated; the theme of a proposition or discourse; that which is spoken of; as, the nominative case is the subject of the verb.
The subject of a proposition is that concerning which anything is affirmed or denied.
Subject
That in which any quality, attribute, or relation, whether spiritual or material, inheres, or to which any of these appertain; substance; substratum.
That which manifests its qualities - in other words, that in which the appearing causes inhere, that to which they belong - is called their subject or substance, or substratum.
Subject
The principal theme, or leading thought or phrase, on which a composition or a movement is based.
The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.
Subject
The incident, scene, figure, group, etc., which it is the aim of the artist to represent.
Subject
To bring under control, power, or dominion; to make subject; to subordinate; to subdue.
Firmness of mind that subjects every gratification of sense to the rule of right reason.
In one short view subjected to our eye,Gods, emperors, heroes, sages, beauties, lie.
He is the most subjected, the most nslaved, who is so in his understanding.
Subject
To expose; to make obnoxious or liable; as, credulity subjects a person to impositions.
Subject
To submit; to make accountable.
God is not bound to subject his ways of operation to the scrutiny of our thoughts.
Subject
To make subservient.
Subjected to his service angel wings.
Subject
To cause to undergo; as, to subject a substance to a white heat; to subject a person to a rigid test.
Subject
The subject matter of a conversation or discussion;
He didn't want to discuss that subject
It was a very sensitive topic
His letters were always on the theme of love
Subject
Some situation or event that is thought about;
He kept drifting off the topic
He had been thinking about the subject for several years
It is a matter for the police
Subject
A branch of knowledge;
In what discipline is his doctorate?
Teachers should be well trained in their subject
Anthropology is the study of human beings
Subject
Something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation;
A moving picture of a train is more dramatic than a still picture of the same subject
Subject
A person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation;
The subjects for this investigation were selected randomly
The cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities
Subject
A person who owes allegiance to that nation;
A monarch has a duty to his subjects
Subject
(grammar) one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the grammatical constituent about which something is predicated
Subject
(logic) the first term of a proposition
Subject
Cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to;
He subjected me to his awful poetry
The sergeant subjected the new recruits to many drills
People in Chernobyl were subjected to radiation
Subject
Make accountable for;
He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors
Subject
Make subservient; force to submit or subdue
Subject
Refer for judgment or consideration;
She submitted a proposal to the agency
Subject
Not exempt from tax;
The gift will be subject to taxation
Subject
Possibly accepting or permitting;
A passage capable of misinterpretation
Open to interpretation
An issue open to question
The time is fixed by the director and players and therefore subject to much variation
Subject
Being under the power or sovereignty of another or others;
Subject peoples
A dependent prince
Subject
A noun or pronoun indicating what the sentence is about.
In 'She runs,' 'She' is the subject.
Subject
An essential element for a complete sentence.
A sentence must have a subject.
Common Curiosities
What is a subject in grammar?
The subject is a noun or pronoun indicating what the sentence is about.
Can a sentence exist without a subject?
In declarative sentences, a subject is necessary for the sentence to be complete.
Can subjects be compound?
Yes, subjects can be compound, involving more than one noun or pronoun.
Can a sentence exist without a predicate?
In declarative sentences, a predicate is essential for completeness.
What comes first in a sentence, the subject or the predicate?
Usually, the subject comes before the predicate in English sentences.
What's the simplest form of a predicate?
The simplest form is a single verb.
What is a predicate in grammar?
The predicate contains the verb and describes what the subject is doing or what is happening to it.
What is the role of the subject in a sentence?
The subject tells who or what the sentence is about.
Is identifying the subject and predicate important?
Yes, they are critical for understanding sentence structure and meaning.
What's the simplest form of a subject?
The simplest form is a single noun or pronoun.
Can predicates be compound?
Yes, predicates can be compound, involving more than one verb.
Do all sentence types require a subject and predicate?
Imperative sentences can sometimes omit the subject, but declarative sentences require both.
What is the role of the predicate in a sentence?
The predicate tells what action the subject is performing or what is happening to it.
Can the subject and predicate be inverted?
In questions and some other sentence types, the predicate can come before the subject.
How do subject and predicate contribute to sentence meaning?
Both are essential for conveying who is doing what, forming the basic structure and meaning of the sentence.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
