THE PREDICATE NOMINATIVE

Typically, a predicate nominative has the same value or grammatical weight as the subject.

[In the following examples, the predicate nominative is bold and the subject is underlined.]

• At the end of the tournament, Tiger Woods was the leader.
  • The subject and the predicate nominative are essentially the same thing.
    
    
• For many of us on the team, the fans were an embarrassment.
  • EMBARRASSMENT restates the subject FANS.
    
    
• When the plot is discovered, Andrea will be a suspect.
  • Look for the subject, decide whether the verb indicates a state of being and find out what "state" the subject is in.
    
    
• Before the announcement, they were the favorites to win the contest.
  • Once you identify the verb, ask whether the verb was done to someone or something. For example: Did THEY do something? No, they just were. What they were FAVORITES is the predicate nominative.
    
    

Predicate nominatives may follow linking verbs that are not the verb TO BE.
[In the following examples, the predicate nominative is bold and the subject is underlined.]

• During the heat wave, dehydration became a threat for active citizens.
  • Nothing really happened here. The subject DEHYDRATION is something A THREAT.
    
    
• Serena's brother remains the leader in sales for this region.
  • To determine whether the subject is being linked to the predicate nominative, replace the verb with the correct form of the verb TO BE. If it works, the verb is linking and if the word it links to the subject is a noun, it is the predicate nominative.
    
    
• The assistant's attitude seems a mystery to everyone involved.
  • Nothing happened. The subject ATTITUDE is something A MYSTERY.

To do a practice exercise for nouns, go to the next page.