19. The Predicate.

[grammarshit2]

The predicate denotes the action or property of the thing expressed by the
subject. It can be expressed by numerous ways. The predicate expresses the
predicative feature which characterized the object expressed by the subject, thus it
realizes the categorial function. Being a link between the subject and the right
environment of the verb, it performs the relative function.

According to morphological characteristics, four types of predicates can be
singled out:
- verbal;
- nominal;
- phraseological;
- contaminated.
according to their structural characteristics, predicates can be simple and
complicated. Therefore, eight types of predicates can be identified.
Simple verbal I took an apple.
Simple nominal The coincidence was extraordinary.
Simple He gave me a smile.
phraseological
Simple contaminated He sat motionless.
Complicated verbal The girl began to cry.
Complicated He turned out to be a thief.
nominal
Complicated You should have taken a look at the map.
phraseological
Complicated He seemed to be lying asleep.
contaminated

There exists one type of predicate which is very frequent in English and which presents a combination of such verbs as have, get, give, take and a verbal noun (give a look, take a bath, have a smoke). Traditionally such cases were referred to a third formal type of predicate, a phraseological predicate. However from the grammatical point of view the most important characteristic of this type of predicate is not so much its phraseological but its analytical character (and all analytical structures are characterized by a certain idiomaticity of their components). The distribution of functions between the components of this predicate is similar to those within an analytical form - the verb expresses the grammatical meaning and the verbal noun serves to name the action, i.e. to express a lexical meaning.
The two formal types of the predicate correspond to the two main semantic types: process predicate which expresses the action, the state or the existence of the subject and qualification predicate which expresses the quality (property) of the subject. The process predicate can be further subdivided into several types in accordance with the semantic types of verbs: existential ( There was a tavern in the town), statal (He slept), locative (The elephant lives in India), relational (He had a small ranch) and actional(The car broke down). The qualification predicate has three subtypes: identifying (So you are the man we have been looking for), classifying ( My friend is a student) and characterizing ( My wife is a bit of an actress. He was too German).
The two types of predicate can be contaminated which results in the formation of the so-called double predicate, He stared at me bewildered. - the finite verb in such sentences conveys a meaning of its own, but the main point of the sentence lies in the information conveyed by the predicative noun or adjective. The finite verb performs the function of a link verb.
Since such sentences have both a simple verbal predicate and a compound nominal predicate, they form a special or mixed type: double predicates.