adjectivalpredicate

An adjectival predicate, also called a predicative adjective, is an adjective that functions as the predicate of a clause, describing or identifying the subject through a linking or copular verb. It asserts a property or state of the subject rather than modifying a noun within a noun phrase. This distinguishes predicative adjectives from attributive adjectives, which directly modify a noun, as in the tall man.

In English, adjectival predicates typically appear after a form of the linking verb be or after other linking verbs such as seem, become, look, feel, taste, appear, sound, or smell. They form a predicative complement that assigns a property to the subject: The sky is blue. The soup tastes salty. The plan became feasible. Predicative adjectives can be modified by degree adverbs: The soup is very hot. Some constructions permit a sequence like seem to be + adjective.

Not all adjectives are equally usable in predicative position. Some are attributive-only (appearing before the noun), while others are predicative-only in English, such as asleep or afraid. For example, one says The child is asleep, but an asleep child is usually marked as attributive rather than predicative.

Cross-linguistic variation is common: many languages allow predicative adjectives to agree with the subject in gender, number, or case, and some permit a zero copula in present tense. The category of adjectival predicates interacts with broader typological patterns, including the presence or absence of a dedicated copula and the ways adjectives participate in compound predicates.

See also predicative complement, linking verb, and attributive adjective.