The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence which expresses an action, state, or quality of the person or thing1 denoted by the subject. It is grammatically dependent upon the subject.
The simple predicate is expressed by a finite verb in a simple or a compound tense form.
It generally denotes an action: sometimes, however, it denotes a state which is represented as an action.
(Mr. Rivarez, I have been looking for you everywhere.)
There is a special kind of predicate expressed by a phraseological unit, such as to get rid, to take care, to pay attention, to lose sight, to have a wash, to give a push, etc.
(When we clear the forests we get rid of such inconveniences.)
We shall treat this kind of predicate as a subdivision of the simple predicate. For the sake of convenience we shall call it a phraseological predicate.
We distinguish two types of the phraseological predicate.
1. Word combinations of the following type: to have a smoke, to have a swim, to have a run, to give a laugh, to give a push, to take a look, to make a move, etc. These combinations consist of a finite verb which has to a great extent lost its concrete meaning and a noun formed from a verb and mostly used with the indefinite article.
This predicate denotes a momentaneous action. In Russian this shade of meaning is rendered by different prefixes and suffixes which express, a momentaneous action.
(He had a smoke.)
2. Word combinations of the following type: to get rid, to get hold, to make use, to take care, to lose sight, to make fun, to pay attention, to make up one’s mind, to change one’s mind, to take part, etc.
The second component of these combinations is in most cases an abstract noun used without any article.
(You were making fun of mother just now.)
The compound nominal predicate denotes the state or quality of the person or thing expressed by the subject (e. g. He is tired, The book is interesting), or the class of persons or things to which this person or thing belongs (e. g. She is a student).
The compound nominal predicate consists of a link verb and a predicative (the latter is also called the nominal part of the predicate).
The link verb (or a verb of incomplete predication) expresses the verbal categories of person, number, tense, aspect, mood, sometimes voice. All link verbs, as the result of a long development, have partly lost their original concrete meaning. One link verb has lost its concrete meaning altogether: this is the verb to be, which can be called a pure link verb as it performs only a grammatical function and can be linked with a predicative expressed by any part of speech used in this function.
(This is a picture of Leningrad.)
Most link verbs to some extent preserve their meaning. The following are the most common of these link verbs: to appear, to get, to grow, to continue, to feel, to keep, to look, to turn, to hold, to prove, to turn out, to loom, to rank, to remain, to run, to seem, to smell, to taste, to fall, to stand, to go, to work.
(His wife sighed and remained silent.)
There are some verbs which, though fully preserving their concrete meaning, perform the function of link verbs: they are used with a predicative and form a compound nominal predicate. Here belong: to lie, to sit, to die, to marry, to return to leave, to come, to stand, to fall, to go, etc.
(I stood transfixed with awe and joy)
According to their meaning link verbs can be divided into two large groups: (1) link verbs of being and remaining; (2) link verbs of becoming.
The first group comprises such verbs as to be, to remain, to keep, to continue, to look, to smell, to stand, to sit, to lie, to shine, to seem, to prove, to appear, etc. The latter three verbs have some modal colouring.
(The Western powers stood aloof.)
The second group comprises such verbs as to become, to get, to grow, to come, to go, to leave, to run, to turn, to make, etc.
(The great day dawned misty and overcast.)
