LESSON 5. - SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

In the following sentences tell the things about which something is said. Tell what is said about them:

Flowers bloom.

Winds blow.
Dogs bark.

Babies cry.

Grass grows.
Horses run.

We see that every sentence has at least two parts. One of these parts is the name of the person, place, or thing about which something is said. This part is called the subject. The other part is that which tells what is said about the subject and is called the predicate.

The subject of a sentence names that of which something is said. The predicate of a sentence tells what is said about the subject.

A sentence that contains but one subject and one predicate and expresses but one thought is called a simple sentence,

In the ordinary declarative sentence the subject is the first part of the statement and can be found by asking the question, "What are we talking about?"

In the ordinary declarative sentence the predicate is the latter part of the statement and can be found by asking the question, “What is said about the subject ?”

Exercise 1. — Name the subject and the predicate in these sentences:

22 COMPLETE SUBJECT AND COMPLETE PREDICATE

Exercise 2. — Use these words as subjects of sentences:

2 stars goats

Jamestown cotton San Francisco eagles school William iron Gibraltar wheels · Paris Susan

grass Chicago oats

rain rivers

roses

oxen

Exercise 3. — Use these words as predicates of sentences : burns sailed a boat

grows in Texas grows went to Europe

is a good book bloom

is king of England behaves badly is hot was lost at sea

rises early tastes sweet is made of iron

is a noble boy

a

LESSON 6. — COMPLETE SUBJECT AND COMPLETE PREDICATE
The cold winds blow fiercely.

1
In the sentence Winds blow there is but one word in the
subject and one in the predicate. If we enlarge this sen-
tence and say The cold winds blow fiercely, we have used
other words to describe the winds and to tell how they
blow. The words The cold winds compose all the subject
and are called the complete subject. The words blow
fiercely compose all the predicate and are called the com-
plete predicate.

The subject of a sentence without any words that modify or describe it is called the simple subject.

The predicate of a sentence without any words that modify it is called the simple predicate.

The simple subject with all the words that belong to it is called the complete subject.

The simple predicate with all the words that belong to it is called the complete predicate.

We can generally separate the complete. subject and the complete predicate by a line thus:

The cold winds | blow fiercely.
The hungry lions | roar loudly.
The wise man | eats sparingly.

Exercise 1. - Write the following sentences, separating the complete subject from the complete predicate by a line. Underscore the simple subject and the simple predicate:

1. The long day, ended at last,
2. Loud and angry waves dashed against the shore.
3. The beautiful snow\fell thick and fast.
4. The painted savages

danced around the fire.
5. The uncomplaining ox oils with his load.
6. The sad procession passed slowly by.
7. The tall pines bend in the breeze.
8. The little dogflaughed to see such sport.
9. The hungry wolves howled in the woods.
10. The sick child fried all night.
11. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Exercise 2. Write a sentence about each of the following subjects, divide the subject from the predicate by a vertical line, and underscore the simple subject and the simple predicate: 1. A bird 6. A volcano

11. The island of St. Helena 2. A lesson 7. Thomas Jefferson

12. A baseball game 3. A shotgun 8. Desert of Sahara 13. A Sunday-school picnic 4. A circus 9. An automobile 14. The Gulf of Mexico 5. Skating 10. The first railroad 15. Robinson Crusoe

LESSON 7. – THE OBJECT

Birds build nests.

In this sentence we know that Birds is the subject because it is the thing we are talking about. We know that build is the simple predicate because it tells what che birds do. The word nests, which tells what is done or acted upon by the predicate, is called the object.

The object of a sentence is that which is acted upon by the subject and predicate.

In ordinary sentences the object follows the predicate. The object also forms a part of the complete predicate.

Exercise 1. —Name the object in each of these sentences:

1. Boys fly kites.
2. Diamonds cut glass.
3. The Egyptians built the Pyramids.
4. Hens lay eggs.
5. Water extinguishes fire.
6. Napoleon crossed the Alps.
7. Cæsar conquered Gaul.
8. Milton wrote Paradise Lost.
9. The Southern States raise cotton.
10. Tigers eat raw meat.
11. The reapers cut the grain.
12. Frost kills flowers.
13. Patriots love their country.
14. Act well your part.

Exercise 2. — Copy these sentences and separate the subject, predicate, and object by vertical lines; as,

Edison | invented the phonograph. 1. The Indian built a fire. 5. He commands the army. 2. The fire burned the home. 6. The snow covered the earth. 3. The stick beat the dog. 7. The procession passed the street. 4. We ate our dinner.

8. The waves tossed the boat.
9. The beautiful lady sang sweetly a tender song.
10. All of us together did not catch a single fish.

Exercise 3. — Write sentences about each of these subjects, each sentence containing an object. Separate the

ORDER OF SUBJECT, PREDICATE, AND OBJECT

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subject, predicate, and object by vertical lines and underscore the object, as,

Grammar | teaches | correct speech.
Fire Washington A large rat

Pearls
Girls
The sailors
A shaggy dog

Clock
Dogs

Jersey cows

Chickens

The sun

LESSON 8. – THE ORDER OF SUBJECT, PREDICATE, AND

OBJECT The subject of a verb does not always come first in a sentence. It may come anywhere. We have to search for the words that tell what we are speaking of and they make the subject. It is the same with the predicate and the object. By changing the natural order of arrangement, which is called transposing it, we make the sentence more emphatic or more poetical.

Exercise 1. – Find the subject and the predicate in the

following sentences:

1. Flashed all their sabers bare.
2. Down went every head in prayer.
3. To the westward stretched the long line.
4. Thrice spoke he the same words.
5. Blessed are the pure in heart.
6. Down came the beautiful snow.
7. Wonderful are Thy works.
8. On every side lay dead and wounded men.
9. Overhead twinkled the quiet stars.
10. Up the chimney roared the cheerful fire.
11. Gold and silver have I none.
12. Great oaks from little acorns grow.
13. Over the fields bleak and bare falls the snow.
14. Deep in the ground the tiny seeds lie warm.
15. On the hearth burned the hot fire.
16. Out of the sea came the gray mist.