Predicate and Predicator: The Difference

Both predicates and predicators have for long been used interchangeably by students, especially second language users of the English language in educational institutions. Even though both concepts are structurally similar, they differ functionally. Not just that, they also belong to different schools of thoughts as you will see in the foregoing sections of this piece.

Predicate

Predicate is a concept that is associated with the traditional grammatical model. It is a grammatical concept introduced by Plato. At the time, expressions were divided into two namely; subject and predicate. The subject constituting the performer or initiator of the action in the expression, while the predicate constituted every other element in an expression starting from the finite verb. For example;

1. John is a man.

2. That boy was joking.

3. The men are playing serous games.

4. That guy was my classmate.

5. She knows the real truth.

So all the elements in each of the examples above, excluding the subject form the predicate of the expressions. This method of distinction was then sustained by the Transformation Generative Grammarians and renamed as NP (subject), and VP (predicate).

Predicator

Different from the predicate of the traditional grammar model, the predicator does not constitute every other element in an expression excluding the subject. However, predicator is a concept that is associated with the systemic functional grammarians and it refers to the functional representation of the verbal elements in an expression. Since SFG takes a functional approach to the analysis of language use, the predicator—being the obligatory element of a clause structure—serves as a functional representation of the verbal group. A verbal group refers to a verb or group of verbs present in a clause structure. For example;

1. Obi is a horrible man.

2. That book looks interesting.

3. These issues don't concern me.

4. It is hers.

5. Give her the book.

All the verbs in the examples above are predicator elements of the respective clause structures they belong to. 

So predicates and predicators should not be used interchangeably as they are functionally distinct compared to their structural similarities. While predicate refers to every element in a clause structure but the subject, predicator refers to a functional representation of the verbal group in a clause structure.