- The tree was tall.
The worddogsis the agent of sentence 1. It performs the action conveyed in
the wordbark.We also can say thatdogsis thesubjectof the sentence. Thus,
subjectis our first function category. The wordbarksupplies information about
dogs, stating or describing what they do. Words that state an action of this sort
and that supply information about the nature of subjects or what they are doing
are referred to aspredicates.Thus,predicateis our second function category. A
predicate consists of the main verb of a sentence and all the words associated
with it. Although in sentence 2the treeis not an agent, the sentence expresses a
fact about the tree’s existence—it was tall.The tree,therefore, is the subject,
andwas tallis the predicate. Understandingsubjectandpredicateis important
because these are the two central functional parts of all sentences. If one is
missing, we don’t have a sentence. Functionally, everything else in a sentence
is related to its subject and predicate in some way.
Teaching Tip
Many students find the concept of “agent” easier to understand than “sub-
ject.” Using “agent” therefore seems to be a wise choice when introducing
the two main functional relations in sentences. Begin with simple sentences
with clear agents. Once students understand the concept, introduce “sub-
ject” and show how it is a more flexible term because it includes those sen-
tences, such as “The tree was tall,” that do not have an agent.Clauses
All sentences in English can be divided into the two constituents of subject and
predicate, even when, as sometimes occurs, the subject isn’t an explicit part of a
given sentence. Almost everything else that one may see in a sentence will be
part of either the subject or the predicate. In addition, a subject/predicate com-
bination constitutes what is referred to as aclause. This means that every sen-
tence is a clause.
Teaching Tip
English allows us to truncate sentences—that is, to drop either the subject or
the predicate—in certain situations. For example, if one is asked “Why are you
going to the store?” an appropriate and grammatical response could be
“Need milk.” The subject has been dropped, producing a truncated sentence.
Students need to understand that truncation is legitimate in speech but not in
writing or formal speaking situations. Engaging students in role-playing activi-
ties in which they take on roles congruent with formal English is a good first
step toward helping students recognize when truncation is appropriate and
when it is not.TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR 55