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predicate nominative

What is a predicate nominative?

Re: predicate nominative

Normally a sentence with an action verb ("hit") goes SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT ("The boy hit the ball").

Nouns have cases (verbs have declensions). In the example above, the SUBJECT is in the Nominative Case; the OBJECT is in the Objective Case.

But when the verb TO BE is used, the "object" is not really an object but follows the verb (predicate), so it ends up being classified as a "Predicate Nominative" and takes NOMINATIVE CASE endings.

This is extremely important in other languages that are more reflexive (Latin, Greek, German, etc.), because they must have different endings. But in English it all sounds the same.


Sentence with Action Verb: "The boy hit the ball."
Hit is an action verb, and what he hit (the ball) is the object.

In the sentence: "Charles is my son."
There is no action, but a state of being. Therefore, "son" is not the object, but the Predicate Nominative.