Do you know what a compound predicate is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on compound predicates, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 10, 2021
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What is a compound predicate?
According to Study, a compound predicate occurs in a sentence when multiple verbs apply to the same subject. Compound predicates can be used in simple sentences or a compound sentence, as well as with a simple subject, singular subject, compound subject, or plural subject. These verb phrases sometimes include commas or other punctuation to connect independent clauses. If you have a second subject, make sure that you maintain subject-verb agreement. In an example of a compound predicate, you might be able to identify the simple predicate and the complete predicate, which includes modifiers.
If you have a sentence with multiple subjects and the first subject uses different verbs than the second subject, this is not necessarily considered a compound predicate. A key element of the compound predicate is using additional words that are verbs to refer to the action of one subject in a sentence.
Many different languages also contain words that mean compound. You may notice that some of these translations of compound look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of compound is provided by Word Sense.
- Russian: составно́й, сло́жный
- Persian: آمیخته (âmixta), همساخته (hamsâxta), مرکب
- Czech: složený (masc.)
- Portuguese: composto (masc.)
- Dutch: samengesteld
- Tagalog: langkapin, lambalan, linambal
- Finnish: yhdistetty, yhdys-; kerrannainen (botany)
- Greek: σύνθετος, συμμιγής
- Slovene: sestavljen
- Swedish: sammansatt
- Bulgarian: съставен, сло́жен
- Spanish: compuesto (masc.)
- Italian: composto (masc.), costituito (masc.)
- Bokmål: sammensatt
- Maori: pūhui
- Irish: comh- (of words)
- French: composé
What are examples of compound predicates?
A compound predicate can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of compound predicate that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at the following sentences of compound predicate examples of sentences from Your Dictionary and see how many you can identify the compound predicate in!
- He lives in Italy and speaks English and Italian. (example of a simple predicate – lives in, speaks)
- Mark broke his computer, so he borrowed one from his friend. (simple predicates – broke, borrowed)
- She slept in and was late for work. (simple predicates – slept in, was late)
- We shopped and ate lunch at the mall. (simple predicates – shopped, ate)
- The cat chased the mouse and trapped it in the kitchen. (simple predicates – chased, trapped)
- My sister fell and hurt her shoulder. (simple predicates – fell, hurt)
- He did homework and played video games. (simple predicates – did, played)
- She likes dolls but hates trains. (simple predicates – likes, hates)
- We completed the project and won a prize. (simple predicates – completed, won)
- The mail was late but arrived later that evening. (simple predicates – was, arrived)
- He decided to upgrade and gain unlimited access to premium (simple predicates – upgrade, gain)
- She decided to study her practice tests and complete practice math problems before the exam. (simple predicates – study, complete)
- The high school English teacher, who taught 8th grade language arts, needed to contact customer support and renew his teaching license by showing a lesson summary. (simple predicates – contact, renew)
- The energetic kids ran a whole mile on the track course progress and swung on the monkey bars. (simple predicates – ran, swung)
- Jimmy did good work in his custom course on business English and earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology. (simple predicates – did, earned)
- The chicken narrowly avoided Adam on his bike, and made a dash for the fences.
- Sally, Sam, Andrew and their guests listened to the Welsh guitar player and took a pause to reflect. (simple predicates – listened, took)
- The cousins took a hike through the mud in Bangor and sent a telegram to their family back home. (simple predicates – took, sent)
What are other grammar terms?
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
- combining form (comb. form)
- singular
- past tense
- unmarked genitive
- similative
- third-person
- direct speech
- filler
- cataphoric
- suffix
- feminine
- combination
- prepositional object
- active
- passive infinitive
- noun (n.)
- causative
- indirect passive
- gender
- optative
- preposition (prep.)
- indirect object
- phrase (phr.)
- present tense
- prefix
- ellipsis | elliptical
- possessive pronoun
- determiner
- periphrasis | periphrastic
- anticipatory
- noun phrase
- collocation | collocate
- parasynthetic
- agent noun
- conjunction (conj.)
- nominative
- possessive
- case
- relative
- complement
- non-finite
- appositive
- protasis
- subjunctive
- passive
- construction
- interjection
- comparative
- adverb (adv.)
- count noun
- masculine
- phrasal verb
- infinitive
- objective
- abstract
- concrete
- tense
- direct question
- intransitive
- postmodify | postmodifier
- conditional
- finite
- main verb
- participial adjective
- anaphoric
- plural
- part of speech
- positive
- morpheme
- special use
- indefinite
- definite article
- apodosis and protasis
- declarative
- number
- inflection | inflected | inflectional
- present participle
- main clause
- progressive
- bare infinitive
- collective noun
- perfect
- superlative
- second person
- predicative
- mass noun
- demonstrative
- adjective
- construed (const., constr.)
- common noun
- copular verb | copula
- past participle
- person
- indirect question
- that-clause
- absolute (absol.)
- pro-form
- verbal noun
- direct object
- possessive pronouns | proper name
- prepositional phrase
- zero
- vocative
- indirect speech
- to-infinitive
- complementary
- parenthetical | parenthetically
- transitive
- subjective
- agree | agreement
- genitive
- antecedent
- attributive
- subject
- prepositional passive
- compound | compounding
- auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- personal pronoun
- instrumental
- accusative
- verb (v.)
- sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- mood
- modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- head
- element
- base form
- impersonal (impers.)
- pronoun (pron.)
- neuter
- intensifier
- simple
- indicative
- reflexive
- first person
- locative
- adverbial | adverbially
- quasi-
- interrogative
- imperative (imper.)
- pleonasm | pleonastic
- article
- cognate object
- subordinate clause
- double object
- object | direct object | indirect object
- dative
- non-referential
- dual
- participle | past participle | present participle
- clause
- stem
- premodify | premodifier
- apposition
- nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- possessive adjective
Overall, a compound predicate definition is when multiple verbs apply to the same subject. This can occur in a dependent clause or fragment part of a sentence, as well as in complex sentences or independent clauses.
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