Master in 5 Minutes with Examples & Tricks
📚 Kerala PSC English Grammar Complete Package
This note is part of our complete English Grammar study series with video tutorial and 5 detailed guides.
📚 BASIC DEFINITIONS
SUBJECT (കർത്താവ്)
Who or What the sentence is about
PREDICATE (ആഖ്യാതം)
What is said about the subject (always contains a verb)
FORMULA:
SUBJECT + PREDICATE = COMPLETE SENTENCE
⚡ THE MAGIC TRICK – “WHO/WHAT + VERB” METHOD
3-STEP PROCESS (Takes 3 seconds):
- Find the main verb (action word)
- Ask “Who or What” is doing that action
- Everything else = Predicate
Example:
“The students are studying for their exams.”
Step 1: Find verb = “are studying”
Step 2: Who is studying? = “The students”
Step 3: Everything else = “are studying for their exams”
Answer:
- Subject: The students
- Predicate: are studying for their exams
📝 FRESH EXAMPLES WITH SOLUTIONS
Example 1: Simple Subject
“Birds fly in the sky.”
- Verb: fly
- Who flies? Birds
- Subject: Birds
- Predicate: fly in the sky
Example 2: Complete Subject with Modifiers
“The beautiful flowers in the garden attract many bees.”
- Verb: attract
- What attracts? The beautiful flowers in the garden
- Subject: The beautiful flowers in the garden
- Predicate: attract many bees
Example 3: Compound Subject
“Ravi and Sita went to the market.”
- Verb: went
- Who went? Ravi and Sita
- Subject: Ravi and Sita
- Predicate: went to the market
Example 4: Inverted Order (Tricky!)
“Under the tree sat an old man.”
- Verb: sat
- Who sat? an old man
- Subject: an old man
- Predicate: Under the tree sat
Example 5: Long Subject
“The books on the library shelf are very interesting.”
- Verb: are
- What are interesting? The books on the library shelf
- Subject: The books on the library shelf
- Predicate: are very interesting
🚨 COMMON TRAPS & HOW TO AVOID THEM
❌ TRAP 1: Time/Place Expressions
“Yesterday my sister bought a new dress.”
Wrong: Subject = Yesterday
Correct: Subject = my sister
Trick: “Yesterday” tells WHEN, not WHO. Ask “Who bought?” not “When bought?”
❌ TRAP 2: Incomplete Subject
“The students of our school won the championship.”
Wrong: Subject = The students
Correct: Subject = The students of our school
Trick: Include ALL describing words. “Of our school” tells WHICH students.
❌ TRAP 3: Inverted Order Confusion
“There goes the school bus.”
Wrong: Subject = There
Correct: Subject = the school bus
Trick: “There” is just a placeholder. Ask “What goes?”
❌ TRAP 4: Imperative Sentences
“Please close the door.”
Subject: (You) – understood but not written
Predicate: Please close the door
Trick: In commands, “You” is always the hidden subject.
🎯 SPEED RECOGNITION TRICKS
🔥 TRICK 1: The Question Method
- For Subject: Ask “Who?” or “What?” before the verb
- For Predicate: Everything that’s not the subject
🔥 TRICK 2: The Complete Subject Rule
Always include ALL modifying words with the subject
- Articles (a, an, the)
- Adjectives (beautiful, big, small)
- Prepositional phrases (of the book, in the garden)
🔥 TRICK 3: Inverted Order Test
If the sentence sounds unusual, try rearranging it:
- “Here comes the train” → “The train comes here”
- Subject = “The train”
🔥 TRICK 4: Compound Subject Recognition
Look for “and,” “or,” “both…and,” “either…or”
- “Tom and Jerry” = compound subject (both parts included)
📊 QUICK PRACTICE CHART
| Sentence | Verb | Question | Subject | Predicate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “The cat sleeps.” | sleeps | What sleeps? | The cat | sleeps |
| “My friend and I are going.” | are going | Who is going? | My friend and I | are going |
| “In the garden grow roses.” | grow | What grows? | roses | In the garden grow |
🏆 EXAM SUCCESS FORMULAS
✅ DO’s:
- Start with the verb – it’s your anchor point
- Include complete subjects with all modifying words
- Watch for inverted order in sentences starting with “Here,” “There,” “Under,” etc.
- Remember hidden “You” in imperative sentences
❌ DON’Ts:
- Don’t pick time expressions (yesterday, tomorrow, next week)
- Don’t pick place expressions (in the house, on the table)
- Don’t include verbs in the subject
- Don’t split compound subjects joined by “and”
⚡ LIGHTNING PRACTICE (10 SECONDS EACH)
Find the Subject:
- “The students in the front row are listening carefully.”
Answer: The students in the front row - “Next month we will visit Kerala.”
Answer: we - “Running in the park was my daily routine.”
Answer: Running in the park - “Here comes the ambulance.”
Answer: the ambulance - “Both the teacher and the principal attended the meeting.”
Answer: Both the teacher and the principal
📋 MASTER CHECKLIST
✅ You’ve mastered Subject-Predicate when you can:
- [ ] Find the subject in any sentence within 5 seconds
- [ ] Include complete subjects with all modifying words
- [ ] Handle inverted order sentences correctly
- [ ] Avoid time/place expression traps
- [ ] Identify compound subjects accurately
🎯 FINAL SUCCESS TIP
Remember: Every sentence has exactly TWO parts – Subject and Predicate. Master the “Who/What + Verb” method and you’ll never get these questions wrong in Kerala PSC exams!
Target: 95%+ accuracy in under 5 seconds per question