Лекции по теоретической грамматике английского языка. Тивьяева И.В. - 87 стр.

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dependent either on the subject or on the predicate. The subject and the predicate

can form a sentence on their own.

e.g. She smiles. He is running.

The Subject

The subject is one of the two main parts of the sentence. It denotes the thing

whose action or characteristic is expressed by the predicate. It may be expressed by

different parts of speech, the most frequent ones being: a noun in the common

case, a personal pronoun in the nominative case, a demonstrative pronoun, a

substantivised adjective, a numeral, an infinitive, and a gerund. It may also be

expressed by a phrase.

The subject performs two main functions: categorial and relative. The

categorial function of the subject consists in naming the possessor of the

predicative feature expressed by the predicate. The relative function of the subject

consists in its being the original element in the syntagmatic development of the

sentence, thus constituting the predicate’s left environment as opposed to its right

environment.

As it has already been mentioned, the subject always goes with the

predicate, therefore, one-member nominal sentences do not have a subject.

The Predicate

The predicate denotes the action or property of the thing expressed by the

subject. It can be expressed by numerous ways. The predicate expresses the

predicative feature which characterized the object expressed by the subject, thus it

realizes the categorial function. Being a link between the subject and the right

environment of the verb, it performs the relative function.

According to morphological characteristics, four types of predicates can be

singled out:

- verbal;

- nominal;

- phraseological;

- contaminated.