Subject and Predicate – Difference and Examples

In every sentence, we must have a person or thing to speak about and we must say or tell something about it. Thus, a sentence has two parts: subject and predicate.

The subject often says who or what performs the action that the verb refers to.

1. The subject is the first part of the sentence that names the person or thing we are speaking about.
2. The predicate is the second part of the sentence that tells something about the subject. 

Look at this sentence:

Akbar was a great king.

What is this sentence about? – Akbar. So Akbar is the first part and the subject of the sentence. The second part says something about Akbar that ‘he was a great king‘, so it is the predicate.

Few more examples for better understanding of subject and predicate: Red – Subject, Blue – Predicate

• The beautiful rainbow soon faded away.
• He is a brave boy.
• This flower is very beautiful.
• A policeman appeared on the scene.
• Malacca is the oldest town in Malaysia.

PLACEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE IN A SENTENCE

In sentences, the subject is usually placed before the predicate, but occasionally it is put after the predicate; as,

Ranjit stood in a corner of the room.      (normal order)

In a corner of the room stood Ranjit.      (order changed for emphasis)

Let us take one more example, 

New Delhi is the capital of India.             (normal order)

The capital of India is New Delhi.            (order changed for emphasis)

SUBJECT IN IMPERATIVE SENTENCES

In imperative sentences, the subject is always ‘you’, but it is left out. Take these two sentences:

In imperative sentences, the subject is always ‘you’, but it is implied and not stated.

Listen to classical music it is good for the mind. 

Wait outside

These sentences mean –

You should listen to classical music it is good for the mind. 

You must wait outside.

SUBJECT AND PREDICATE IN INTERROGATIVE AND EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES

In questions and exclamations, the word order is slightly different and the subject comes after the predicate. So to find out the subject and predicate, it is also helpful to write these sentences as statements. For example,

To find the subject in a question of an exclamation, write the given sentence as a statement.

1. Have they bought the books?    (question)

To find the subject, we may write this sentence as

They have bought the books.       (statement)

Now we can easily see that in the above sentence the subject is ‘they’.

    2. What a stupid answer she gave!   (exclamation)

We may write this sentence as

She gave a stupid answer.               (statement)

The subject is ‘she’.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

To summarize, the difference between subject and predicate are as follows:

1. The subject is the first part of the sentence, whereas the predicate is the second part of the sentence.
2. The subject names the person or thing we are speaking about, whereas predicate tells something about the subject.