Clause Pattern: Subject – Verb – Subject Predicative (SVP_s )

This pattern consists of a subject, a copular verb, and a subject predicative.

Description of Subject

• The mimic octopus is particularly clever. (Spencer and Papastamatiou 2022)     (info)
• The atmosphere was mostly nitrogen, carbon dioxide and no oxygen . (Jordan 2019)     (info)
• Orangutans are very slow breeders . (Meijaard, Voigt, and Wich 2018)     (info)
• The virus was aggressive and lethal . (Roossinck 2020)     (info)

Description of Change in Subject

• These wings then gradually became more powerful and covered in feathers and were eventually used to fly . (Wills 2020)      (info)
• But as people used more and more paper, rags grew scarce. (Law 2021)      (info)
• Inventors Francis and Freelan Stanley, twin brothers became automaking pioneers after they improved photographic technology . (Stewart and Yohe 2022)    (info)

Definition and Identification

• Gelotophobia is an intense fear of being laughed at . (Barker 2017)      (info)
• In the late 1700s, Englishman William Addis was the first to sell toothbrushes on a large scale . (Jordan 2019)      (info)
• The world’s largest nuclear power plant is the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station in Japan . (Wu 2021)      (info)
• Energy is the capacity for something to do work . (Baron 2021)    (info)

Test your understanding of this Subject – Verb – Subject Predicative (SVP_s ) pattern Go to the (SVP_s) exercise page.