Worksheet on identifying predicate adjectives in sentences.

Let's solve the worksheet step by step. The task is to identify the predicate adjective in each sentence. A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject. Common linking verbs include: *be, seem, become, appear, look, feel, taste, smell, sound, stay, remain*, etc.

We will go through each sentence one by one.

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1. In 1871, the city of Chicago was already huge.

- Linking verb: was
- Adjective describing the subject ("the city of Chicago"): huge
✔ Predicate adjective: huge

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2. Over 350,000 residents felt proud of their beautiful city.

- Verb: felt — but here it's used as a sense verb, not a linking verb.
- "Felt" is followed by a noun phrase ("proud of..."), not an adjective describing the subject.
- However, "proud" is an adjective, but it's part of the complement (adjective phrase), but only if "felt" is acting as a linking verb.
- But "felt proud" means "experienced pride" — so "felt" is not linking; it's a sensory verb indicating emotion.
- So, no predicate adjective here because "felt" is not a linking verb in this context.

✘ No predicate adjective → write None

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3. Most of the buildings in the city were wooden.

- Linking verb: were
- Adjective describing "buildings": wooden
✔ Predicate adjective: wooden

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4. The hundreds of miles of sidewalk were wooden too.

- Linking verb: were
- Adjective: wooden
✔ Predicate adjective: wooden

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5. But the beautiful city became deadly on the evening of October 8.

- Linking verb: became
- Adjective: deadly — describes the subject "city"
✔ Predicate adjective: deadly

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6. On that night, someone was unconscious.

- Linking verb: was
- Adjective: unconscious — describes "someone"
✔ Predicate adjective: unconscious

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7. How the fire started is still mysterious.

- Subject: How the fire started
- Linking verb: is
- Adjective: mysterious — describes the subject
✔ Predicate adjective: mysterious

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8. Soon, however, whole city started burning.

- Verb: started — action verb (not linking)
- "Burning" is a present participle, not an adjective describing the subject
- This is an active verb phrase: "started burning"
✘ No predicate adjective → write None

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9. The waterworks soon caught fire; without water, the firefighters were helpless.

- Two clauses:
- First: "The waterworks soon caught fire" — no linking verb, action verb
- Second: "the firefighters were helpless"
- Linking verb: were
- Adjective: helpless — describes "firefighters"
✔ Predicate adjective: helpless

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10. The fire burned for more than a full day.

- Verb: burned — action verb
- No linking verb
✘ No predicate adjective → write None

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11. The blaze had caused about $200,000 in damages.

- Verb: had caused — past perfect tense, action verb
- No linking verb
✘ No predicate adjective → write None

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12. After the fire, about 100,000 people were homeless.

- Linking verb: were
- Adjective: homeless — describes "people"
✔ Predicate adjective: homeless

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13. More people had lost everything they owned.

- Verb: had lost — action verb
- No linking verb
✘ No predicate adjective → write None

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14. The people of Chicago were courageous.

- Linking verb: were
- Adjective: courageous — describes "people"
✔ Predicate adjective: courageous

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15. The new Chicago they built was even better than the old one.

- Linking verb: was
- Adjective: better — comparative form, describes "Chicago"
✔ Predicate adjective: better

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✔ Final Answers:

| Sentence | Predicate Adjective |
|--------|---------------------|
| 1 | huge |
| 2 | None |
| 3 | wooden |
| 4 | wooden |
| 5 | deadly |
| 6 | unconscious |
| 7 | mysterious |
| 8 | None |
| 9 | helpless |
| 10 | None |
| 11 | None |
| 12 | homeless |
| 13 | None |
| 14 | courageous |
| 15 | better |

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🔍 Explanation Summary:

- Predicate adjectives follow linking verbs and describe the subject.
- Linking verbs connect the subject to a description (often an adjective).
- Action verbs like *caught, burned, lost, caused* do not take predicate adjectives.
- Words like *proud*, *helpless*, *homeless*, *mysterious*, *courageous*, *better*, *huge*, *wooden*, *deadly* are all adjectives describing the subject when following a linking verb.

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