Changing an interrogative sentence (a question) into a declarative sentence (a statement) significantly simplifies the process of identifying the subject and predicate by restoring the standard word order.
Questions often involve inverted word order, where the auxiliary verb or part of the verb phrase comes before the subject. This can make it challenging to immediately spot the core doer (subject) and the action/state (predicate).
Restoring Standard Structure
A declarative sentence typically follows a Subject-Predicate structure. When you convert a question into a statement, you rearrange the words back into this standard order. This places the subject in its usual position, generally before the main verb, making it much easier to isolate from the rest of the sentence, which forms the predicate.
Practical Example
As noted in grammar resources, "To identify the subject and predicate (simple or compound) of a question sentence, make the sentence into a statement (a declarative sentence)." This is because "It's much easier to" find them in the statement form.
Consider the example provided:
| Sentence Type | Sentence | Subject | Predicate | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interrogative | Should Lyn and Laura be talking now or sitting quietly? | Less clear | Less clear | Standard S-P order is inverted. |
| Declarative | Lyn and Laura should be talking now or sitting quietly. | Lyn and Laura | should be talking now or sitting quietly. | Standard S-P order is restored. |
In the declarative version, "Lyn and Laura" clearly performs the action (talking or sitting quietly). Thus, "Lyn and Laura" is the compound subject, and everything else describing what they should be doing or being is the compound predicate.
Why This Method Works
Converting to a statement helps because it:
- Reverts Inverted Order: It undoes the inversion common in questions (like
Verb + Subject + ...) and returns to the standardSubject + Verb + ...pattern. - Aligns with Definition: The predicate is what the subject does or is. Identifying the subject first in the standard order makes it straightforward to see that the rest of the sentence describes the subject's action or state.
- Simplifies Identification: With the subject typically at the beginning or early in the sentence and the verb following, separating the core components becomes intuitive.
Quick Tips
When converting and identifying:
- First, mentally or physically change the question into a complete statement.
- Find the main verb or verb phrase in the statement.
- Ask "Who or what" is performing the action of the verb? The answer is your subject.
- The predicate is everything in the statement that is not the subject (starting with the verb).
By following this simple conversion step, you can easily unlock the grammatical structure of a question.
