Grammar: Complete Subjects and Predicates

In most sentences, the addition of other words and phrases to the simple subject and the simple predicate expands or modifies the meaning of the sentence.

The 'complete subject' consists of the simple subject and all the words that modify it. The 'complete predicate' consists of the simple predicate (the verb or verb phrase) and all the words that modify it or complete its meaning. The ‘verb’ is the word in the

For example, remembering the previous example cited in "Simple Subjects and Simple Predicates", Complete Subject CS: "The celebrated Nikki Giovanni", Complete Predicate CP: "writes fantastic poetry". CS: "Everyone in the French club" CP: "will attend the meeting".

In both the examples the simple subject and simple predicate have been filled out by having more complete information reported about them. The Simple subject was initially just the pronoun 'everyone' and the complete subject used the phrase 'Everyone in the French club' so there is more information about the subject.

The simple predicate was initially just the verb 'writes' and the complete predicate, 'writes fantastic poetry' tells more about what is written and makes the predicate complete.

COMPLETE SUBJECT: Chocolate chip cookies COMPLETE PREDICATE: writes were baking in the oven.

COMPLETE SUBJECT: The rush hour traffic COMPLETE PREDICATE: slowed to  a snail’s pace.

 Tips:

         Complete subject or predicate have more than just the noun or verb.

         Once you are familiar with the parts of a sentence you will recognize them quickly.