MTEL Communication Literacy Skills Writing 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The term 'predicate' in a sentence refers specifically to the action or what is being said about the subject. In grammatical terms, the predicate expresses something about the subject, typically including the verb and the rest of the sentence that provides additional information regarding what the subject is doing or is like. For example, in the sentence "The cat sleeps," "sleeps" is the predicate because it tells us what the cat (the subject) is doing.

Understanding that the predicate encompasses not just the verb but also any objects, complements, or modifiers associated with the verb clarifies its role in conveying the main action or state of being within the sentence. This is foundational to sentence structure and helps in grasping more complex ideas in writing.