Subiectpredicat

Subiect‑predicat is a fundamental syntactic relation in Romanian grammar, denoting the core structure of a clause in which the subject (subiectul) and the predicate (predicatul) combine to express a complete proposition. The subject is the grammatical element that denotes the entity performing, undergoing, or being described by the action or state, while the predicate conveys the action, state, or quality attributed to the subject. This binary organization is analogous to the subject‑verb construct in many languages, but Romanian distinguishes between simple predicates (verbal, nominal, or adjectival) and compound predicates formed with auxiliary verbs, modal expressions, or copular constructions.

In a simple declarative sentence, the subject typically precedes the predicate, as in “Elevul citește” (The student reads). However, Romanian allows flexibility: inversion, topicalization, or the use of impersonal constructions can alter the canonical order without changing the underlying subiect‑predicat relation. The predicate may consist of a single verb (verbal predicate), a noun or adjective preceded by a copula (nominal or adjectival predicate), or a combination of auxiliary and lexical verbs (compound verbal predicate).

The analysis of subiect‑predicat relations aids in parsing sentences, identifying agreement in person and number, and understanding clause coordination and subordination. It also underpins language teaching, computational linguistics, and comparative Romance linguistics, where the interplay of subject and predicate reveals both typological consistencies and language‑specific variations.