Glossary
predicate adjective
A predicate adjective is an adjective after a linking verb that describes the subject, as in "the dressing was loose", and it takes no object.
A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject. In the dressing was loose, loose is not an object and not a modifier propped in front of a noun: it is the sentence's whole claim about the dressing.
The construction explains two rules at once. It is why the adjective form is correct after look, feel, taste, smell, sound and seem — the wound looked bad, not badly — because the word describes the subject, and subjects take adjectives. And it is why the sentence has no direct object at all: a linking verb does not act on anything. Change the verb to an action verb and the adjective has to become an adverb: the nurse dressed the wound badly.
The same slot can hold a noun instead — the dressing was a pressure injury — and then it is a predicate nominative rather than a predicate adjective. The position is identical; only what fills it differs.
Taught in
Related terms
- predicate nominative — A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun after a linking verb that renames the subject, as in "Ms. Okafor is the charge nurse".
- modifier — A modifier is a word or phrase that describes another word, and it belongs as close as possible to the word it describes.
Source: The grammar guide in this course, whose conventions follow the US Government Publishing Office's Style Manual for standard written American English, with standard grammar references for agreement, case, tense and sentence structure. The GPO manual is US federal government material, not subject to copyright in the United States. Every definition and example above was written for this course; no reference text is reproduced. (GPO Style Manual accessed 2026-10-27; definitions written 2026-10-27)