Subject vs. Predicate: What's the Difference?
Edited by Harlon Moss || By Janet White || Published on November 18, 2023
The subject is what the sentence is about, and the predicate tells something about the subject.
Key Differences
In every sentence, the subject and predicate are the foundational elements creating meaning. The subject typically refers to what the sentence is about, often a noun or pronoun, revealing the topic. In contrast, the predicate provides information about the subject, typically containing a verb and expressing actions, events, or states of being.
The subject, the sentence's cornerstone, can be a simple, compound, or complete subject, offering different levels of information about the topic. The predicate, serving to expand upon the subject, can similarly be simple, compound, or complete, depending on the amount of information it relays about the subject.
In grammar, identifying the subject is pivotal as it determines the verb's form in the predicate. The predicate, in return, reveals essential actions, states, or conditions related to the subject, serving to convey the sentence’s overall message and intention effectively.
Within a sentence structure, the subject usually appears before the predicate. However, the predicate holds equal grammatical importance as it provides the necessary details, actions, or states that give full meaning to the subject, culminating in a coherent statement.
In essence, the subject serves as the starting point of a sentence, introducing the main topic or actor. The predicate completes the thought by adding actions, descriptions, or states related to the subject, thus delivering a clear and comprehensive message within the sentence.
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Comparison Chart
Role in Sentence
Refers to what the sentence is about.
Provides information about the subject.
Typical Components
Usually a noun or pronoun.
Usually contains a verb.
Function
Introduces the main topic or actor in the sentence.
Describes actions, states, or conditions of subject.
Position in Sentence
Generally appears before the predicate.
Generally follows the subject in a sentence.
Types
Can be simple, compound, or complete.
Can be simple, compound, or complete.
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Subject and Predicate Definitions
Subject
The subject typically is a noun or pronoun.
She is very knowledgeable about history.
Predicate
The predicate usually contains a verb.
The students are studying for the exam.
Subject
The subject usually appears before the predicate in a sentence.
A fast car zoomed past us.
Predicate
The predicate describes actions, states, or conditions of the subject.
The flowers smell wonderful.
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
The predicate can be simple, compound, or complete.
The teacher read the book and wrote on the board.
Subject
Prone; disposed
A child who is subject to colds.
Predicate
To base or establish (a statement or action, for example)
I predicated my argument on the facts.
Subject
Likely to incur or receive; exposed
A directive subject to misinterpretation.
Predicate
To state or affirm as an attribute or quality of something
The sermon predicated the perfectibility of humankind.
Subject
Contingent or dependent
A vacation subject to changing weather.
Predicate
To carry the connotation of; imply.
Subject
One who is under the rule of another or others, especially one who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.
Predicate
(Logic) To make (a term or expression) the predicate of a proposition.
Subject
One concerning which something is said or done; a person or thing being discussed or dealt with
A subject of gossip.
Predicate
To proclaim or assert; declare.
Subject
Something that is treated or indicated in a work of art.
Predicate
To make a statement or assertion.
Subject
(Music) A theme of a composition, especially a fugue.
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
A course or area of study
Math is her best subject.
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
A basis for action; a cause.
Predicate
(Grammar) Of or belonging to the predicate of a sentence or clause.
Subject
One that experiences or is subjected to something
The subject of ridicule.
Predicate
Stated or asserted; predicated.
Subject
A person or animal that is the object of medical or scientific study
The experiment involved 12 subjects.
Predicate
(grammar) The part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by.
Subject
A corpse intended for anatomical study and dissection.
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
One who is under surveillance
The subject was observed leaving the scene of the murder.
Predicate
(computing) An operator or function that returns either true or false.
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
(grammar) Of or related to the predicate of a sentence or clause.
Subject
(Logic) The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.
Predicate
Predicated, stated.
Subject
The mind or thinking part as distinguished from the object of thought.
Predicate
(law) Relating to or being any of a series of criminal acts upon which prosecution for racketeering may be predicated.
Subject
A being that undergoes personal conscious or unconscious experience of itself and of the world.
Predicate
(transitive) To announce, assert, or proclaim publicly.
Subject
The essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes.
Predicate
(transitive) To assume or suppose; to infer.
Subject
To cause to experience, undergo, or be acted upon
Suspects subjected to interrogation.
Rocks subjected to intense pressure.
Predicate
To base (on); to assert on the grounds of.
Subject
To subjugate; subdue.
Predicate
To make a term (or expression) the predicate of a statement.
Subject
To submit to the authority of
Peoples that subjected themselves to the emperor.
Predicate
To assert or state as an attribute or quality of something.
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
To assert to belong to something; to affirm (one thing of another); as, to predicate whiteness of snow.
Subject
Conditional upon something; used with to.
The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.
Predicate
To found; to base.
Subject
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Predicate
To affirm something of another thing; to make an affirmation.
Subject
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
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) 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.
Predicate
The word or words in a proposition which express what is affirmed of the subject.
Subject
An actor; one who takes action.
The subjects and objects of power.
Predicate
Predicated.
Subject
The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
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 particular area of study.
Her favorite subject is physics.
Predicate
One of the two main constituents of a sentence; the predicate contains the verb and its complements
Subject
A citizen in a monarchy.
I am a British subject.
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
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
Predicate
Affirm or declare as an attribute or quality of;
The speech predicated the fitness of the candidate to be President
Subject
(music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
Predicate
Involve as a necessary condition of consequence; as in logic;
Solving the problem is predicated on understanding it well
Subject
A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
Predicate
The predicate provides information about the subject.
The cat is sleeping on the couch.
Subject
(philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
Predicate
The predicate generally follows the subject in a sentence.
The birds are singing beautifully.
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
The subject is the topic of the sentence.
Dogs are very loyal animals.
Subject
The subject introduces the main actor or element in a sentence.
The sun is shining brightly today.
Subject
The subject can be simple, compound, or complete.
Jack and Jill went up the hill.
FAQs
Does the predicate always contain a verb?
Yes, the predicate typically contains a verb.
Is the predicate important in conveying a sentence’s intention?
Yes, the predicate is crucial as it provides details about the subject.
Can a sentence exist without a subject?
In imperative sentences, the subject is often implied, but generally, sentences have subjects.
Does the subject determine the form of the verb in the predicate?
Yes, the subject determines the verb's form in the predicate.
Does the predicate expand upon the subject?
Yes, the predicate provides additional information about the subject.
Is the subject the main actor in a sentence?
Generally, yes, the subject is often the main actor or topic of a sentence.
Is the subject always a noun or pronoun?
Typically, yes, the subject is usually a noun or pronoun.
Can the subject and the predicate be compound?
Yes, both the subject and the predicate can be compound.
Can a sentence have multiple predicates?
Yes, a sentence can have multiple predicates, known as a compound predicate.
Does the subject usually come before the predicate?
Yes, typically, the subject comes before the predicate in a sentence.
Can the predicate describe the state of the subject?
Yes, the predicate can describe the state, action, or condition of the subject.
Can the predicate contain multiple verbs?
Yes, a compound predicate can contain multiple verbs related to the same subject.
Is identifying the subject important in understanding a sentence?
Absolutely, identifying the subject is pivotal in understanding the overall meaning and intention of a sentence.
Are subjects essential for the coherence of a sentence?
Yes, subjects are essential as they introduce the main topic or actor in a sentence.
Is it possible for the predicate to come before the subject?
While uncommon, in some cases, especially in questions, the predicate can come before the subject.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Harlon MossHarlon is a seasoned quality moderator and accomplished content writer for Difference Wiki. An alumnus of the prestigious University of California, he earned his degree in Computer Science. Leveraging his academic background, Harlon brings a meticulous and informed perspective to his work, ensuring content accuracy and excellence.
