Predicate Meaning
/ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kət/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by.
nounA term of a statement, where the statement may be true or false depending on whether the thing referred to by the values of the statement's variables has the property signified by that (predicative) term.
Sentence Examples
This sentence has a predicate but no subject.
The sentence must have a predicate.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The well-known scientific theory can ____ that all matter is composed of tiny atoms.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ of the sentence contains the verb and provides information about the subject.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English predicat(e), from Old French predicat (French prédicat), from Medieval Latin praedicātum (“thing said of a subject, predicate”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of praedicātus, the perfect passive participle praedicō (“to proclaim”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix); see also Etymology 2 below. The adjective was derived from the noun by metanalysis, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In the light of this observation, consider Number Agreement in a sentence like:
(120) They seem to me [_S — to be fools/^✽a fool]
Here, the Predicate Nominal fools agrees with the italicised NP they, in spite of the fact that (as we argued earlier) the two are contained in different Clauses at S-structure. How can this be? Under the NP MOVEMENT analysis of seem structures, sentences like (120) pose no problem; if we suppose that they originates in the — position as the subordinate Clause Subject, then we can say that the Predicate Nominal agrees with the underlying Subject of its Clause. How does they get from its underlying position as subordinate Clause Subject to its superficial position as main Clause Subject? By NP MOVEMENT, of course!"
— 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 8, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 438:
"Thus, in (121) (a) persuade is clearly a three-place Predicate — that is, a Predicate which takes three Arguments: the first of these Arguments is the Subject NP John, the second is the Primary Object NP Mary, and the third is the Secondary Object S-bar [that she should resign]. By contrast, believe in (121) (b) is clearly a two-place Predicate (i.e. a Predicate which has two Arguments): its first Argument is the Subject NP John, and its second Argument is the Object S-bar [that Mary was innocent]."
— 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 323:
"Predicates are usually found in a query's WHERE or HAVING clauses, though they can be located elsewhere (e.g. in CASE expressions)."
— 2000, Ken Henderson, The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL, Addison-Wesley Professional, →ISBN, page 128:
"There was a character about Madame Defarge, from which one might have predicated that she did not often make mistakes against herself in any of the reckonings over which she presided."
— 1859, Charles Dickens, “The Wine-shop”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book I (Recalled to Life), page 21:
"Of anyone else it would have been said that she was finding the afternoon rather dreary in the vast halls not of her forefathers: but of Miss Power it was unsafe to predicate so surely."
— 1880–1881, Thomas Hardy, chapter II, in A Laodicean; or, The Castle of the De Stancys. A Story of To-day. […], volume II, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, […], published 1881, →OCLC, book the third (De Stancy), page 59:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The well-known scientific theory can ____ that all matter is composed of tiny atoms.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ of the sentence contains the verb and provides information about the subject.