CLASS 5 · LEARNING KNOWLEDGE
Subject, predicate and sentence elements – basics
How it works
A sentence consists of sentence elements. Important sentence elements are the subject, predicate and often also objects or adverbial modifiers. The subject is often in the nominative and determines the verb form. In simple sentences, the predicate is often the conjugated verb, for example ‹schläft› in ‹Der Hund schläft auf dem Sofa.› sentence elements can consist of several words and can often be identified with the rearrangement test.
Note
The subject indicates who or what is acting. Then you can ask with ‹Wer oder was ...?›. The predicate says what someone or something does; in simple sentences it is often the conjugated verb. In ‹Die Kinder bauen eine Sandburg.› ‹Die Kinder› is the subject and ‹bauen› is the predicate. With the rearrangement test, many sentence elements can be moved without changing the meaning of the sentence.
The subject indicates who or what is acting. Then you can ask with ‹Wer oder was ...?›. The predicate says what someone or something does; in simple sentences it is often the conjugated verb. In ‹Die Kinder bauen eine Sandburg.› ‹Die Kinder› is the subject and ‹bauen› is the predicate. With the rearrangement test, many sentence elements can be moved without changing the meaning of the sentence.
An example
Identify the subject in the sentence: ‹Der Hund schläft auf dem Sofa.›
The subject is ‹Der Hund›, because you can ask: Who is sleeping on the sofa? The answer is ‹Der Hund›.
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50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: German. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.