A compound predicate contains two or more coordinated verbs or verb phrases that share the same subject. The verbs may express actions, events, or states, and they are commonly connected by and, or, or but.
Consider:
The café owner checked the deliveries and opened the shop before sunrise.
The café owner is the subject, while checked the deliveries and opened the shop before sunrise is the compound predicate.
The distinction becomes less obvious when a sentence contains several verbs or conjunctions. Not every pair of verbs joined by and forms the compound predicate of the main clause.
How Compound Predicates Work
A compound predicate can connect actions, descriptions, or states. Each coordinated verb may have its own object, complement, or modifiers.
Coordinated Actions and States
The hikers crossed the shallow stream and rested beneath a large oak tree.
Crossed the shallow stream and rested beneath a large oak tree are coordinated verb groups sharing the subject the hikers.
Compound predicates can also describe conditions rather than physical actions.
The coastal path looked dangerous but remained open.
Both looked dangerous and remained open are linking-verb constructions describing the coastal path. The conjunction but connects the contrasting descriptions.
More Than Two Verbs
A compound predicate can contain three or more coordinated verb groups.
Amelia unpacked the groceries, prepared the vegetables, and put dinner in the oven.
The compound predicate is unpacked the groceries, prepared the vegetables, and put dinner in the oven.
This is still a simple sentence because it contains only one independent clause, even though its predicate has three coordinated verbs.
For more on how clause structure determines sentence types, see Sentence Structure in English.
Compound Predicate vs. Compound Sentence
A compound predicate joins verbs or verb phrases within one clause. A compound sentence joins two or more independent clauses.
Compare:
Hannah packed the equipment and locked the storage room.
Hannah packed the equipment, and she locked the storage room.
In the first sentence, Hannah is the shared subject of packed and locked. The two verb groups form a compound predicate.
In the second, Hannah packed the equipment and she locked the storage room are separate independent clauses. Each has its own expressed subject, although both refer to the same person.
The first sentence is simple in structure; the second is compound.
Can a Sentence Have Both a Compound Subject and a Compound Predicate?
Yes.
The landlord and the caretaker inspected the basement and replaced the broken lock.
The landlord and the caretaker form a compound subject, while inspected the basement and replaced the broken lock is the compound predicate.
The sentence presents the two people as the shared subject of both activities without specifying how they divided the work.
How to Identify a Compound Predicate
When a sentence contains several verbs or conjunctions, look at what is being joined. A conjunction may connect objects, verb phrases, or whole clauses.
When And Joins Objects and Verbs
Consider:
The caretaker checked the doors and windows and secured the rear entrance.
The first and joins doors and windows, which are coordinated objects of checked.
The second and connects two verb groups:
- Checked the doors and windows
- Secured the rear entrance
Both share the subject the caretaker.
The compound predicate is checked the doors and windows and secured the rear entrance.
Compare:
The caretaker checked the doors and windows, and the security officer secured the rear entrance.
This sentence has two independent clauses, each with its own subject and predicate.
When Helping Verbs Are Shared
A compound predicate may contain a helping verb that applies to more than one coordinated main verb.
The visitors have explored the old fortress and photographed the surrounding valley.
The auxiliary have applies to both explored and photographed. It is understood with the second verb rather than repeated.
The compound predicate is have explored the old fortress and photographed the surrounding valley.
Compare:
The visitors have explored the old fortress and will photograph the surrounding valley tomorrow.
Now the coordinated verb groups have different auxiliaries: have explored and will photograph.
They still form a compound predicate because they share the subject the visitors.
When Verbs Belong to Different Clauses
Consider:
When the guests arrived, Daniel checked the seating plan and welcomed them inside.
The main clause has the subject Daniel and the compound predicate checked the seating plan and welcomed them inside.
Arrived belongs to the dependent clause when the guests arrived, whose subject is the guests.
When Coordinated Verbs Are Inside an Infinitive Construction
Compare:
The neighbours decided to repaint the fence and replace the damaged gate.
The neighbours repainted the fence and replaced the damaged gate.
In the first sentence, decided is the main clause’s verb. To repaint the fence and replace the damaged gate tells us what the neighbours decided. The verbs repaint and replace are coordinated within that infinitive construction.
In the second sentence, repainted and replaced are the main verbs sharing the subject the neighbours, so they form the main clause’s compound predicate.
Punctuation with Compound Predicates
The punctuation depends on whether a conjunction joins verb groups within one clause or connects separate independent clauses.
Two Verb Groups Sharing One Subject
Normally, no comma is needed before and or or when two predicate parts share the same subject.
The technician tested the alarm and recorded the results.
Compare:
The technician tested the alarm, and the supervisor recorded the results.
The comma in the second sentence separates two independent clauses.
Three or More Verb Groups
Commas separate items in a series of three or more coordinated verb groups.
Clara checked the route, filled the water bottles, and loaded the bicycles.
The comma before the final and is called the serial comma or Oxford comma. Its use depends on the chosen style guide.
Commas Around an Intervening Phrase
Sometimes commas appear near coordinated verbs for a reason unrelated to the coordination itself.
Laura checked the photographs and, after a brief discussion, approved the final selection.
The commas surround after a brief discussion, an intervening time expression. They do not separate checked and approved as independent clauses.
For an ordinary compound predicate with two coordinated verb groups, avoid placing a comma before the conjunction unless another punctuation rule calls for one.
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