A complete predicate is the part of a clause that contains the verb or verb phrase and the other words that tell us what the subject does, what happens to it, or what it is like.
Consider:
The neighbourhood bakery reopened early on Saturday.
The neighbourhood bakery is the complete subject, while reopened early on Saturday is the complete predicate. It tells us what happened to the bakery and when it happened.
A complete predicate can be short or long. The difficulty isn’t usually finding the verb, but deciding which other words belong to the predicate rather than the subject.
Complete Predicate vs. Simple Predicate
The simple predicate is the main verb together with any helping verbs. The complete predicate includes that verb phrase and the other words belonging to the predicate.
The passengers had missed the last train.
- Simple predicate: had missed
- Complete predicate: had missed the last train
Had missed is the verb phrase. The last train is its object, so it belongs to the complete predicate but not the simple predicate.
The distinction also applies when a verb describes a condition rather than an action.
The narrow mountain road had become dangerously slippery.
The simple predicate is had become, while the complete predicate is had become dangerously slippery.
Dangerously slippery describes the road through the linking verb become. It belongs to the complete predicate, although it isn’t part of the verb phrase.
Sometimes the two are identical:
The crowd dispersed.
Here, dispersed is both the simple and complete predicate because no other words accompany the verb.
What Belongs to a Complete Predicate?
A complete predicate may contain objects, complements, and information about when, where, or how something happens. It can also include modifiers attached to an object rather than directly to the verb.
Objects and Their Modifiers
Compare:
The visitors from the village arrived early.
The guide welcomed visitors from the village.
In the first sentence, the visitors from the village is the complete subject. The phrase from the village describes which visitors arrived.
The complete predicate is arrived early.
In the second sentence, the guide is the subject, and welcomed visitors from the village is the complete predicate.
Here, visitors from the village is the object of welcomed. The phrase from the village describes that object, so it belongs within the complete predicate.
A modifier doesn’t have to describe the verb directly to be included in the complete predicate. It may be part of an object or another element within it.
Complements and Additional Details
A complete predicate may describe the subject through a linking verb.
The atmosphere in the waiting room remained tense throughout the afternoon.
The atmosphere in the waiting room is the complete subject.
Remained tense throughout the afternoon is the complete predicate. Tense describes the atmosphere, while throughout the afternoon tells us how long that condition continued.
Other predicates contain optional details that add information to an otherwise complete clause.
The children waited patiently beneath the shelter.
The complete predicate is waited patiently beneath the shelter.
Although the children waited is already a complete clause, patiently and beneath the shelter still belong to the complete predicate because they describe the waiting.
Can a Complete Predicate Contain Two Verbs?
Yes. A complete predicate can contain coordinated verbs that share one subject.
The caretaker unlocked the side entrance and switched on the corridor lights.
The complete predicate is unlocked the side entrance and switched on the corridor lights.
It is also a compound predicate because the two verb groups share the same subject.
How to Find the Complete Predicate
Start by identifying the complete subject. This includes the subject’s main word and the descriptive words or clauses belonging to it.
The complete predicate contains the main verb or verb phrase and the other elements associated with it.
In straightforward sentences, the division is easy to see. Other constructions require closer attention to how the words are connected.
When a Phrase Has More Than One Interpretation
Consider:
The photographer spotted the cyclist with binoculars.
The phrase with binoculars could mean that the cyclist was carrying binoculars or that the photographer used binoculars to spot the cyclist.
Either way, the complete subject is the photographer, and the complete predicate is spotted the cyclist with binoculars.
If the phrase describes the cyclist, it belongs within the object. If it describes how the photographer spotted the cyclist, it modifies the action.
Both interpretations place it within the complete predicate.
When a Modifier Comes Before the Subject
A complete predicate doesn’t always appear as one uninterrupted group of words after the subject.
After the final rehearsal, the orchestra packed away its instruments.
The orchestra is the subject.
After the final rehearsal tells us when the orchestra packed away its instruments. It doesn’t belong to the complete subject.
In a traditional complete-predicate analysis, the introductory time expression belongs with the information about what the orchestra did, even though it appears before the subject.
Compare:
The orchestra packed away its instruments after the final rehearsal.
Here, packed away its instruments after the final rehearsal is the complete predicate in its usual continuous position.
The two sentences express the same basic event, but the predicate-related information appears in a different order.
When an Auxiliary Verb Appears Before the Subject
Questions can place a helping verb before the subject.
Have the neighbours reported the leaking pipe?
The subject is the neighbours.
The complete predicate contains have reported the leaking pipe, even though have appears before the subject.
Compare the statement:
The neighbours have reported the leaking pipe.
Now the complete predicate appears together as have reported the leaking pipe.
The question and statement have the same central subject–verb relationship. The different word order separates the auxiliary from the rest of the predicate in the question.
Complete Predicates in Sentences with More Than One Clause
A longer sentence can contain subordinate clauses within both its complete subject and its complete predicate.
Consider:
The notice that Nina posted yesterday explained why the entrance was closed.
The main clause has two larger grammatical parts.
Complete subject: the notice that Nina posted yesterday
Complete predicate: explained why the entrance was closed
Within the complete subject, that Nina posted yesterday is a relative clause describing the notice.
Nina is the subject of that relative clause, and posted is its finite verb. The clause identifies which notice is being discussed.
Within the complete predicate, why the entrance was closed is a subordinate content clause completing the meaning of explained.
That clause has its own subject, the entrance, and the predicate was closed.
The main structure becomes clearer if we temporarily remove the relative clause from the subject:
The notice explained why the entrance was closed.
The complete predicate remains explained why the entrance was closed.
Posted belongs to the relative clause within the complete subject. Explained is the main clause’s verb, while was closed belongs to the subordinate clause within the complete predicate.
For more on how these grammatical units work, see Phrase vs. Clause and Predicate in English Grammar.
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