A compound predicate includes two or more verbs that all share the same subject.
He showered, shaved, and dressed in his finest clothes for his cat’s birthday party. The verbs “showered,” “shaved,” and “dressed” all use the same subject, “he.” In this example, all the verbs belong to the same clause and therefore to the same compound predicate.
However, be careful with sentences that have more than one clause. In these cases, each clause has its own different predicate.
He showered, shaved, and dressed in his finest clothes for his cat’s birthday party, but the cat never showed. In this example, there are two separate predicates: the original compound predicate and the second predicate “never showed” that uses a new subject, “the cat.”
What are predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives?
Predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives are special types of predicates used only with linking verbs like be, seem, or become. The action with linking verbs is simply existing, so predicates with linking verbs describe the state of the subject.
A predicate adjective is when the words following a linking verb are adjectives or adjective phrases that modify the subject.
Devaj was happy with the first date. In this example, the simple predicate is “was,” the past tense of the linking verb be. The adjective “happy” describes the subject “Devaj,” making it a predicate adjective. The prepositional phrase “with the first date” relates to the adjective “happy,” so it too is part of the predicate adjective.
Similarly, a predicate nominative is when the words following a linking verb are nouns or noun phrases, again modifying the subject.
Amirah became the company’s first CEO under the age of 30. This example also uses a linking verb, this time “became.” Following the verb is a noun phrase centered on the word “CEO,” which describes the subject “Amirah,” making it a predicate nominative. All the words after “became” relate to the noun “CEO,” so they work together as a noun phrase, making them part of the predicate nominative too.