Do you know what a predicate adjective is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on predicate adjectives, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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January 2, 2022
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Common Questions
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What is a predicate adjective?
According to Your Dictionary, there are many types of predicates: predicative nominatives, a predicate noun or noun phrase, predicate participles, a compound predicate adjective, a predicate complement, a simple predicate, a complete predicate, a compound predicate nominative, and more. A predicate adjective modifies the subject of the sentence, and is always connected to the subject by a linking verb or verb phrase. The other verb in the sentence may be a transitive verb or intransitive verb.
Many different languages also contain words that mean predicate. You may notice that some of these translations of predicate 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 predicate is provided by Word Sense.
- Irish: faisnéis (fem.)
- Vietnamese: thuộc từ, vị ngữ
- Portuguese: predicado (masc.)
- Swedish: predikat (neut.)
- Cyrillic: предикат (masc.), прирок (masc.)
- Buryat: хэлэгшэ
- Japanese: 述語 (じゅつご, jutsugo)
- German: Prädikat (neut.)
- Bulgarian: сказу́емо (neut.)
- Persian: مسند
- Interlingua: predicato
- Turkish: yüklem
- Slovak: prísudok (masc.)
- Russian: сказу́емое (neut.), предика́т (masc.)
- Mandarin: 謂語, 谓语 (wèiyǔ), 述語, 述语 (shùyǔ)
- Romanian: predicat (neut.)
- Armenian: ստորոգյալ
- Belarusian: выка́знік (masc.), прэдыка́т (masc.)
- Hungarian: állítmány
- French: prédicat (masc.)
- Arabic: خَبَر (masc.)
- Roman: predikat (masc.), prirok (masc.)
- Icelandic: umsögn (fem.), umsagnarliður (masc.)
- Ido: predikato (masc.)
- Tajik: мустанад
- Southern Altai: айдылаачы (aydılaaçı)
- Slovene: povedek (masc.)
- Esperanto: predikato
- Korean: 술어
- Kalmyk: келгч
- Mongolian: өгүүлэхүүн
- Hebrew: נָשׂוּא (nasu)
- Tagalog: panaguri
- Dutch: gezegde (neut.)
- Czech: přísudek (masc.)
- Spanish: predicado (masc.)
- Ukrainian: прису́док (masc.), предика́т (masc.)
- Greek: κατηγόρημα (neut.)
- Polish: orzeczenie (neut.)
- Finnish: predikaatti; predikaattiosa
- Macedonian: при́рок (masc.)
What are examples of predicate adjectives?
Predicate adjectives can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or grammatical 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 predicate adjectives that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these predicate adjective examples from Your Dictionary and see how many you can identify the predicate adjective in!
- After my workout, I feel powerful and energized.
- The lumber is large and heavy.
- His assignment proves difficult for him.
- Her lasagna smells scrumptious.
- Our music sounds uplifting.
- Beth tasted some delicious cookies.
- Dash received a marvelous birthday present.
- The new students were panicked about their exams.
- Mom taught the thief a powerful lesson not to mess with her children.
- Samantha and Sarah made a big move to America.
- Children grow older every day.
- Bosses can be demanding.
- There was much confusion surrounding the homework.
- The soup tastes like garbage.
- I think the house is well-built and affordable.
- The two instruments look similar in size and color.
- My friend’s mood stayed relaxed and calm all evening.
- Andy’s sports car is Italian.
- My first impression was wrong.
- All the artifacts in the museum are ancient.
- Aspen leaves turn yellow in the fall.
- The ballerina is lithe and graceful.
- This lemonade tastes sweet and refreshing.
- Tornadoes appear menacing.
- Traffic becomes congested after work.
- The climate here appears idyllic and temperate.
- Some football players are large, strong and agile.
- The crime is puzzling and strange.
- This dish tastes spicy, hot and delicious.
- Jupiter is massive and gaseous.
- The paintings are intricate and vivid.
- The blanket feels soft and warm.
- Mount Rushmore looks amazing.
- The disease is wide-spread.
- When her car broke down, she felt alone and forlorn.
- All the kittens are asleep.
- Her costume is strange.
- The mountain air smells piney and clean.
- Your team was muddy, victorious and jubilant.
- Her writing is introspective and illuminating.
- The flag is red, white and blue.
- After some time, this work becomes tedious and boring.
- My neighbors are Japanese.
- The squid that washed ashore was enormous.
- For eons, these mountains have remained majestic and impressive.
- The senator was long-winded.
- The raft was afloat on the river.
- Mary would be perfect for him.
- His stand-up routine proved funny and thought-provoking.
- The baby remains happy during her bath.
- The ocean was aglow from the setting sun.
- Finally, all the laundry is washed, dried and folded.
- My doctor seems confident about my recovery.
- Mario is always punctual and prepared.
- He seems afraid of the dog.
- Apples taste sweet and delicious.
- The weather for tomorrow will be hot and windy.
- The flowers were beautiful and fragrant.
- The speaker is convincing and intelligent.
- You look healthy and fit.
- The road trip became horrifying.
- The director remains hopeful, in spite of bad reviews.
- According to Jane, A Tale of Two Cities is an excellent book.
- Our sun is fiery, explosive and life-giving.
- His horses appear well-groomed.
- Thank goodness you are alive and well.
- The purchase of the black opal ring is extravagant.
What are other literary techniques and devices?
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.
- verbal noun
- interrogative
- postmodify | postmodifier
- head
- dative
- prepositional object
- modify | modifier
- intensifier
- predicative
- prepositional passive
- construed (const., constr.)
- objective
- determiner
- agree | agreement
- main verb
- filler
- accusative
- number
- adjective
- declarative
- morpheme
- subjunctive
- complement
- conditional
- copular verb | copula
- feminine
- inflection | inflected | inflectional
- possessive pronoun
- noun (n.)
- article
- mass noun
- parenthetical | parenthetically
- nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- phrasal verb
- demonstrative
- instrumental
- subordinate clause
- personal pronoun
- passive
- genitive
- reflexive
- combining form (comb. form)
- singular
- direct speech
- to-infinitive
- part of speech
- double object
- possessive
- relative
- common noun
- ellipsis | elliptical
- mood
- protasis
- combination
- preposition (prep.)
- past tense
- collocation | collocate
- gender
- premodify | premodifier
- similative
- absolute (absol.)
- direct question
- person
- case
- infinitive
- unmarked genitive
- possessive adjective
- zero
- prefix
- intransitive
- nominative
- suffix
- finite
- noun phrase
- clause
- indirect question
- pro-form
- third-person
- agent noun
- collective noun
- special use
- positive
- plural
- impersonal (impers.)
- modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- cataphoric
- anticipatory
- progressive
- definite article
- cognate object
- prepositional phrase
- compound | compounding
- participle | past participle | present participle
- abstract
- construction
- neuter
- bare infinitive
- locative
- element
- subjective
- imperative (imper.)
- predicate
- antecedent
- indirect passive
- gerund
- count noun
- attributive
- masculine
- first person
- indirect speech
- indicative
- vocative
- transitive
- tense
- perfect
- parasynthetic
- phrase (phr.)
- causative
- adverbial | adverbially
- verb (v.)
- comparative
- anaphoric
- simple
- active
- non-finite
- object | direct object | indirect object
- present tense
- indirect object
- main clause
- participial adjective
- auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- non-referential
- adverb (adv.)
- appositive
- sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- passive infinitive
- present participle
- stem
- past participle
- interjection
- optative
- indefinite
- quasi-
- superlative
- direct object
- second person
- proper noun | proper name
- dual
- subject
- pleonasm | pleonastic
- apodosis and protasis
- that-clause
- base form
- apposition
- periphrasis | periphrastic
- pronoun (pron.)
- complementary
- concrete
- conjunction (conj.)
- subject complements
Overall, a predicate adjective in English grammar is an attributive adjective that describes the subject of a sentence. The form of the verb and sentence structure are important.
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