predicative
/ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kə.tɪv/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.89 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An element of the predicate of a sentence which complements the subject or object by means of the verb. Predicatives may be nominal or adjectival.
noun
In some languages, a special part of speech used as a predicate and denoting a state of being.
Example Sentences
- "in predicative position"
- "A predicative in Russian is an uninflected word that regularly constitutes a complete utterance when standing alone, i.e., when preceded and followed by silence."
- "Traditional grammars usually differentiate between neuter short adjectives and predicatives based on whether there is an overt nominative subject; hence курение вредно ‘smoking (noun) is harmful’ is viewed as a clause with nominative subject, zero copula and neuter short form adjective that agrees with the subject in gender, whereas курить вредно (same meaning, literally ‘to smoke is harmful’) is often viewed as an impersonal clause with predicative."
Etymology
Etymology tree English predicate Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English predicative From predicate + -ive.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kə.tɪv/
- British English: /ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kə.tɪv/