The Predicate

Reflecting the categories of the predicate, simple sentences are divided into process featuring (“verbals”) and, in the broad sense, substance featuring (including substance as such and substantive quality – “nominal”). Among the process featuring sentences actional and statal ones are to be discriminated (The window is opening – The window is glistening in the sun): among the substance featuring sentences factual and perceptional ones are to be discriminated (The sea is rough – The place seems quiet).

Process featuring (verbal)		Substance featuring
actional	statal	factual	perceptional

Finally, reflecting the subject – object relation, simple sentences should be divided into subjective (John lives in London), objective (John reads a book) and neutral or “potentially” objective (John reads), capable of implying both the transitive action of the syntactic person and the syntactic person’s intransitive characteristic.

The Predicate can be Simple and Compound. The further essential division of the Compound Predicate is into Nominal and Verbal.

The Predicate
The Simple Predicate	The Compound Predicate
	The Compound Verbal Predicate	The Compound Nominal Predicate

The Simple Predicate is expressed by any verb, used in any time, voice and mood.

• She works at a factory.

• He is reading.

• They will return.

• The goods were loaded by means of cranes.

The Compound Nominal Predicative is expressed by a link-verb to be combined with the nominal part. The Nominal Part of the predicative can be expressed by:

1. a noun (I am a student. They are workers.)

2. a pronoun (It is she. The book is yours.)

3. a noun and a pronoun with a preposition (The room is in disorder.)

4. an adjective and an adverb (The morning was warm.)

5. an infinitive (Your duty is to help them immediately.)

6. a gerund (His greatest pleasure was traveling.)

Except the verb to be there are other verbs that can be used as link-verbs: to become, to grow, to get, to turn, to seem, to look, etc. (He became a doctor. It grew warmer. He is getting old. She turned pale. He looks ill.)

The Compound Verbal Predicate is the combination of the verb and an Infinitive or a Gerund.

The Compound Verbal Predicate is expressed by:

1. The combination of the modal verbs with the Infinitive. (He may return soon. You must read this book.)

2. The combination of such verbs as to begin, to continue, to finish, to like, to want, to intend, to try, to avoid, to hope, to promise, etc. with the Infinitive. (She began to translate the article. He wants to help me.)

3. The combination of an adjective with an Infinitive or a Gerund. (I am glad to see you. He is ready to help her. The book is worth reading.)

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