Predicate
The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence and its organizing centre, as the object and nearly all adverbial modifiers are connected with, and dependent on, it.
The predicate may be considered from the semantic or from the structural point of view.
Fig. 121
Structurally the predicate in English expressed by a finite verb agrees with the subject in number and person. The only exception to this rule is a compound modal and a simple nominal predicate, the latter having no verb form at all.
According to the meaning of its components, the predicate may denote an action, a state, a quality, or an attitude to some action or state ascribed to the subject. These different meanings find their expression in the structure of the predicate and the lexical meaning of its constituents.
From the structural point of view there are two main types of predicate: the simple predicate and the compound predicate (Fig. 121). Both these types may be either nominal or verbal, which gives four sub-groups: simple verbal, simple nominal, compound verbal, compound nominal. Compound verbal predicates may be further classified into phasal, modal and of double orientation Compound nominal predicates may be classified into nominal proper and double nominal.
The simple predicate can be of two types: verbal and nominal. The simple verbal predicate can be expressed in two ways (Fig. 122).
Fig. 122
The simple nominal predicate does not contain a link verb, as it shows the incompatibility of the idea expressed by the subject and that expressed by the predicate; thus in the meaning of the simple nominal predicate there is an implied negation.
Sentences with the simple nominal predicate are always exclamatory evidently owing to the implication of a negation or of an evaluation.
The predicate is mostly separated by a comma, but a comma is not regarded as a strict rule. These predicates are used in colloquial English, although not frequently.
The simple nominal predicate can be expressed in different ways (Fig. 123).
Fig. 123
The compound predicate consists of two parts: the notional and the structural. The structural part comes first and is followed by the notional part.
From the point of view of meaning the most important part of the compound predicate is the notional part as it contains the information about the person or non-person expressed by the subject.
From the point of view of structure the most important part of the predicate is the first one, since it is expressed by a finite verb and carries grammatical information about the person, number, tense, voice, modal, attitudinal and aspective (phasal) meaning of the whole predicate.
Compound Verbal Aspect Predicate
The compound verbal phasal predicate denotes the beginning, duration, repetition or cessation of the action expressed by an infinitive or a gerund. It consists of a phasal verb (Fig. 124) and an infinitive or a gerund.
Fig. 124
Compound Verbal Modal Predicate
The compound verbal modal predicate consists of a modal part (Fig. 125) and an infinitive (or a gerund). It shows whether the action expressed by an infinitive is looked upon as possible, impossible, obligatory, necessary, desirable, planned, certain, permissible, etc. In most cases it denotes the attitude to the action of the person expressed by the subject or by the speaker.
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Fig. 125