Okay, so I am in the unit of predicate nominatives and all that good stuff now..

Question

I've been struggling with these since 6th grade, and the books they gave me throughout the years, never described them all that well, even my mom had some trouble figuring these out, when she helped me.

Can somebody explain them to me? I'm completely clueless honestly.

Answer 1

Every sentence needs to have a subject and a verb, right?

Some verbs are action verbs (do, go, run, speak, etc.), and if they are transitive, they have direct objects. These verbs are not what you're asking about!

Other verbs are linking verbs ~~> am, is, are, was, were, etc.
Linking verbs are usually followed by a predicate noun/nominative or a predicate adjective. These nouns or adjectives re-name or describe the subject.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/objects.htm#predicate
A predicate adjective follows a linking verb and tells us something about the subject:

Ramonita is beautiful.
His behavior has been outrageous.
That garbage on the street smells bad.

A predicate nominative follows a linking verb and tells us what the subject is:
Dr. Couchworthy [subject] is acting president [predicate noun] of the university.
She [subject] used to be the tallest girl [predicate noun] on the team.
She [subject] used to be the tallest [predicate adjective] on the team.

If you have some examples you need help understanding, please post them.

Answer 2

Here's another website for you.
https://www.really-learn-english.com/predicate-nouns-and-predicate-adjectives.html

Scroll down and study the examples of predicate nouns and predicate adjectives.

Answer 3

Thanks so much! You probably just explained this better than all the English I've gotten over the years combined lol

Answer 4

You're very welcome!

=)