A Pro Guide to Predicate Adjective

You must be aware of the fact that a predicate is the part of a sentence that tells us something about the subject of the sentence. Out of various types of predicate, predicate adjective is the main topic of this article. 

Predicate adjectives, as the name suggests, are the adjective words that are used predicatively in a sentence. Continue to read to master the chapter of predicate adjective with definition, types and examples. 

This article covers:

• Predicate Adjective - Definition and Meaning
• Predicate Adjective Examples
• How to Identify Predicate Adjectives?
• Participles as Predicate Adjectives
• Adjective Phrases as Predicate Adjective 
• Predicate Nominative Vs Predicate Adjective 
• Predicate Adjective Vs Attributive Adjective
• FAQs - Predicate Adjective

   

Predicate Adjective - Definition and Meaning

A predicate adjective is an adjective word used after a linking verb (such as "is", "am" or "are") that tells us about the qualities of the subject in a sentence. In simple language, predicate adjectives are adjectives that are used after linking verbs to give us information about the subject in a sentence.

According to the definition above, we can define predicate adjectives in points as under:

1. A predicate adjective is an adjective word: Just as adjectives modify a noun, noun phrase or pronoun, so does the predicate adjective; that is, a predicate adjective, as an adjective does, modifies the subject which can be a noun, noun phrase or pronoun. 

Examples of adjectives used as predicates include: 

• John is handsome.
• The boy in black suit is kind. 
• She is beautiful.

All of the above-mentioned example sentences use the predicate adjectives "handsome", "kind" and "beautiful" respectively. These predicate adjectives connected with the help of the linking verb "is" modify, i.e., state something about the subjects "John", "The boy in black suit" and "She". 

Note that "John" is a noun, "The boy in black suit" is a noun phrase, and "She" is a pronoun.

 
2. A predicate adjective is used predicatively, not attributively: If an adjective is used not to modify the immediate noun but to modify the subject as in "John is handsome.", it will be known as predicate or predicative adjective, and if an adjective is used to modify the immediate noun as in "beautiful flower", it will be termed attributive adjective. 

Look closely at the below-given examples and try to identify the attributive and predicative adjectives. 

For example: 

1. Sofia is beautiful. 
2. Ayesha is a beautiful girl.  

Example 1 uses the adjective word, "beautiful" predicatively; that is, the word "beautiful" in the first example doesn't modify any immediate noun; but rather, it modifies, i.e., talks about the quality "beauty" of the subject "Sofia". Therefore, this adjective word is known as predicate or predicative adjective. 

Example 2 also uses the same adjective word "beautiful" attributively, not predicatively; that is, the adjective word "beautiful" in the second example doesn't directly modify the subject "Ayesha"; but rather, it modifies the immediate noun "girl". Hence, this adjective word is known as attributive adjective. 

  

Note that a predicate adjective is not used to modify the immediate noun; but rather, it modifies the subject; that is, a predicate adjective tells us something about the subject which can be a noun, noun phrase or pronoun with the help of a linking verb. (Linking verbs such as "is", "am", "are" etc., connect the predicate with the subject in a sentence.)

3. A predicate adjective is used after a linking verb: Linking verbs such as is, am, are, was, were, smell, feel, taste, become, seem, look, grow, etc., are the verbs that connect a predicate with a subject in a sentence. Predicate adjectives are used after these linking verbs as in "He looks handsome." as the complements of these linking verbs. 

Examples of predicate adjectives after linking verbs include:

1. You are kind. (are = linking verb, kind = predicate adjective)

2. She is cute. (is = linking verb, cute = predicate adjective)

3. Sofia looks gorgeous. (looks = linking verb, gorgeous = predicate adjective)

4. John seems unhappy. (seems = linking verb, unhappy = predicate adjective)

5. The food tastes bad. (tastes = linking verb, bad = predicate adjective)

6. It smells good. (smells = linking verb, good = predicate adjective)

4. A predicate adjective talks about the qualities of the subject: A predicate adjective states something about the subject in a sentence; that is, a predicate adjective is used to modify, i.e., talk about the good or bad qualities of the subject in a sentence. 

Here are a few examples of predicate adjectives modifying the subjects:

• Sara looks beautiful.
• It feels good.
• The food tastes good.
• It smells bad.
• Rocky seems unhappy.

Now that you've learned predicate definition and understood it completely, you must be aware of how to identify a predicate adjective. Continue to learn how you can identify predicate adjectives in sentences. 

How to identify predicate adjectives?

Step 1: Break the sentence in three parts: subject, linking verb and predicate as shown below: 

• The man in blue suit looks handsome. 

The man in blue suit = subject

Looks = linking verb 

handsome = predicate

Step 2: Decide the grammatical categories of each word in the sentence as shown under: 

• The man in blue suit looks handsome.

The = article 

Man = noun

In = preposition

Blue = adjective

Suit = noun 

Looks = linking verb 

Handsome = adjective

Step 3: Look for the adjective word in the predicate part of the sentence.

• The man in blue suit looks handsome.

The man in blue suit = subject

Looks handsome = predicate

Handsome = adjective in the predicate part

So, after the analysis, we find that the word "handsome" is a predicate adjective. This is how you identify a predicate adjective in a sentence. 

Now, proceed ahead to learn different types of predicate adjectives with example sentences. 

A. Participles as Predicate Adjectives

A participle phrase is a group of words that has a present or past participle and other modifiers as in "annoying" and "disappointed". Participle phrases function as adjectives. As these particle phrases act as adjectives, they can be used as predicate adjectives.

Below are the types of predicate adjectives with examples

1. Present Participle as Predicate Adjective

• John seemed annoying at the party.
• The story looks interesting.
• This kid is really irritating.  

2. Past Participle as Predicate Adjectives

• Sofia seems disappointed.
• John looks interested.
• Rocky is frustrated.

 

B. Adjective Phrases as Predicate Adjective 

An adjective phrase is a group of words that contains an adjective word as the head word and other words before or after it. Like adjectives, adjective phrases describe noun, noun phrase or pronoun. These adjective phrases can be used in the predicate part of the sentence acting as predicate adjectives. (learn more about adjective phrase)

Examples of Adjective Phrases as Predicate Adjectives include:

• Your marks are pretty good. (pretty = modifier, good = adjective, both = predicate adjective)
• This is extremely bad. ( extremely = modifier, bad = adjective, both = predicate adjective)
• This chapter is fairly difficult. (fairly = modifier, difficult = adjective, both = predicate adjective)

Predicate Nominative Vs Predicate Adjective 

To understand the difference between predicate nominative and predicate adjective, look at the definitions of both carefully. 

A predicate nominative is a noun that renames the subject in a sentence as in "He is John." 

A predicate adjective is an adjective that describes the subject in "He is handsome.". 

According to the definition above, the main differences between predicate nominative and predicate adjective are these:

Difference 1. A predicate nominative is a noun, whereas a predicate adjective is an adjective.

For example: 

1. He is John.
2. He is handsome.

Look at example 1 carefully. You can see the order: subject + link verb + noun. The noun "John" is, therefore, a predicate nominative. 

Also look at example 2. You can see that the order: subject + link verb + adjective. Hence, the adjective word "handsome" is predicate adjective. 

  

Difference 2. A predicate nominative renames the subject, whereas a predicate adjective describes the subject. 

For example: 

1. She is Sofia.
2. Sofia is beautiful.

The noun "Sofia" in example 1 renames the subject "she" and tells us that the "she" that we're talking about is "Sofia".  

But the adjective "beautiful" in example 2 describes the subject "Sofia" by highlighting the good quality "beauty" of Sofia. 

Difference 3. A predicate nominative is mainly used with the verb "to be" (is, am, are, was, etc.), whereas a predicate adjective is used with all linking verbs.

For example:

1. He is Smith.
2. Smith looks handsome. 

The predicate nominative "Smith" in example 1 is used with one of the many forms of "to be" which is "is". If we're sure, we normally don't say "He seems Smith." 

But the predicate adjective "handsome" in example 2 can be used with other forms of linking verbs; as a result, we can say "Smith is/looks/grew/became handsome.".

Predicate Adjective Vs Attributive Adjective

A predicate adjective, as has been mentioned, is an adjective word used in  the predicate part of a sentence to modify the subject, whereas an attributive adjective is an adjective word that is used anywhere in a sentence to modify the immediate noun or noun phrase. 

Examples of Predicate Adjectives

• He is nice. (nice = predicate adjective)
• She is kind. (kind = predicate adjective)
• Sofia looks gorgeous. (gorgeous = predicate adjective)

Examples of Attributive Adjectives 

• He is a nice person. (nice = attributive adjective, a nice person = predicate) 
• She is a kind woman. (kind = attributive adjective, a kind woman = predicate)
• Sofia is a gorgeous girl. (gorgeous = attributive adjective, a gorgeous girl = predicate)

FAQs - Predicate Adjective 

What is a predicate adjective?

A predicate adjective, also known as predicative adjective, is an adjective word used in the predicate part of a sentence to describe the subject. 

In simple language, a predicate adjective describes the subject after being connected with the subject by a linking verb. 

Define predicate adjective 

A predicate adjective is an adjective that describes the subject after being used in the predicate part of a sentence. (learn more about predicate adjective here.)

How to identify predicate adjectives?

Step 1: Break the sentence in three parts: subject, linking verb and predicate. 

Step 2: Decide the grammatical categories of each word in the sentence. 

Step 3: Look for the adjective word in the predicate part of the sentence.

What is a predicate adjective example?

1. John looks handsome.

2. She grew beautiful.

3. It seems doubtful. 

4. The breakfast smells stale.

5. It feels good.