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Predicate vs Complement - What's the difference?

predicate | complement |

In grammar terms the difference between predicate and complement

is that predicate is the part of the sentence (or clause) which states something about the subject or the object of the sentence while complement is a word or group of words that completes a grammatical construction in the predicate and that describes or is identified with the subject or object.

In lang=en terms the difference between predicate and complement

is that predicate is a term of a statement, where the statement may be true or false depending on whether the thing referred to by the values of the statement's variables has the property signified by that (predicative) term while complement is an expression related to some other expression such that it is true under the same conditions that make other false, and vice versa.

In computing terms the difference between predicate and complement

is that predicate is an operator or function that returns either true or false while complement is a bit with the opposite value to the given one; the logical complement of a number.

predicate

Alternative forms

* (archaic)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) predicat (French , as Etymology 2, below.

Noun

(en noun)
  • (grammar) The part of the sentence (or clause) which states something about the subject or the object of the sentence.
  • In "The dog barked very loudly", the subject is "the dog" and the predicate is "barked very loudly".
  • *
  • In the light of this observation, consider Number Agreement in a sentence like:
    (120)      They'' seem to me [S — to be ''fools''/?''a fool'']
    Here, the Predicate''' Nominal ''fools'' agrees with the italicised NP ''they'', in spite of the fact that (as we argued earlier) the two are contained in different Clauses at S-structure. How can this be? Under the NP MOVEMENT analysis of ''seem'' structures, sentences like (120) pose no problem; if we suppose that ''they'' originates in the — position as the subordinate Clause Subject, then we can say that the '''Predicate Nominal agrees with the ''underlying'' Subject of its Clause. How does ''they
    get from its underlying position as subordinate Clause Subject to its superficial position as main Clause Subject? By NP MOVEMENT, of course!
  • (logic) A term of a statement, where the statement may be true or false depending on whether the thing referred to by the values of the statement's variables has the property signified by that (predicative) term.
  • A nullary predicate''' is a proposition. Also, an instance of a ' predicate whose terms are all constant — e.g., P(2,3) — acts as a proposition.
    A predicate can be thought of as either a relation (between elements of the domain of discourse) or as a truth-valued function (of said elements).
    A predicate is either valid, satisfiable, or unsatisfiable.
    There are two ways of binding a predicate''''s variables: one is to assign constant values to those variables, the other is to quantify over those variables (using universal or existential quantifiers). If all of a '''predicate' s variables are bound, the resulting formula is a proposition.
  • *
  • Thus, in (121) (a) persuade'' is clearly a ''three-place Predicate''''' — that is, a '''Predicate''' which takes three Arguments: the first of these Arguments is the Subject NP ''John'', the second is the Primary Object NP ''Mary'', and the third is the Secondary Object S-bar [''that she should resign'']. By contrast, ''believe'' in (121) (b) is clearly a ''two-place '''Predicate''''' (i.e. a '''Predicate which has two Arguments): its first Argument is the Subject NP ''John'', and its second Argument is the Object S-bar [''that Mary was innocent ].
  • (computing) An operator or function that returns either true or false.
  • Derived terms
    * nominal predicative * predicatable * predicate calculus * predicative adjective * predicatively

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (predicat)
  • To announce or assert publicly.
  • (logic) To state, assert.
  • To suppose, assume; to infer.
  • * 1859 , Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities :
  • There was a character about Madame Defarge, from which one might have predicated that she did not often make mistakes against herself in any of the reckonings over which she presided.
  • * 1881 , Thomas Hardy, A Laodicean :
  • Of anyone else it would have been said that she must be finding the afternoon rather dreary in the quaint halls not of her forefathers: but of Miss Power it was unsafe to predicate so surely.
  • (originally US) To base (on); to assert on the grounds of.
  • * 1978 , Michel Foucault, The Will to Knowledge , trans. Robert Hurley (Penguin 1998, page 81):
  • The law is what constitutes both desire and the lack on which it is predicated .

    complement

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • *:
  • perform all those works of mercy, which Clemens Alexandrinus calls amoris et amicitiæ impletionem et extentionem , the extent and complement of love.
  • (obsolete) The act of completing something, or the fact of being complete; completion, completeness, fulfilment.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.5:
  • And both encreast the prayse of woman kynde, / And both encreast her beautie excellent: / So all did make in her a perfect complement .
  • The totality, the full amount or number which completes something.
  • * 1851 , (Herman Melville), Moby-Dick :
  • Queequeg sought a passage to Christian lands. But the ship, having her full complement of seamen, spurned his suit; and not all the King his father's influence could prevail.
  • * 2009 , The Guardian , 30 October:
  • Some 11 members of Somerton council's complement of 15 stepped down on Tuesday.
  • (obsolete) Something which completes one's equipment, dress etc.; an accessory.
  • * 1591 , (Edmund Spenser), “The Teares of the Muses [The Tears of the Muses]: Polyhymnia”:
  • *:A doleful case desires a doleful song,
  • *:Without vain art or curious complements.
  • *c. 1599 , (William Shakespeare), , Act 2, Scene 2:
  • *:Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement,
  • *, I.42:
  • *:A man should be judged by himselfe, and not by his complements .
  • (nautical) The whole working force of a vessel.
  • (heraldry) Fullness (of the moon).
  • * 1912 , Allen Phoebe, Peeps at Heraldry , p.33:
  • The sixth Bishop of Ely had very curious arms, for he bore both sun and moon on his shield, the sun "in his splendour" and the moon "in her complement ".
  • (astronomy, geometry) An angle which, together with a given angle, makes a right angle.
  • Something which completes, something which combines with something else to make up a complete whole; loosely, something perceived to be a harmonious or desirable partner or addition.
  • * Sir J. Stephen
  • History is the complement of poetry.
  • * 2009 , The Guardian , 13 December:
  • London's Kings Place, now one year old, established itself as a venue for imaginative programming, a complement to the evergreen Wigmore Hall.
  • (grammar) A word or group of words that completes a grammatical construction in the predicate and that describes or is identified with the subject or object.
  • *
  • Why has our grammar broken down at this point? It is not difficult to see why. For, we have failed to make any provision for the fact that only some'' Verbs in English (i.e. Verbs like those italicized in (5) (a), traditionally called ''Transitive Verbs'') subcategorize ( = ‘take?) an immediately following NP Complement , whereas others (such as those italicised in (5) (b), traditionally referred to as ''Intransitive Verbs ) do not.
  • (music) An interval which, together with the given interval, makes an octave.
  • (optics) The color which, when mixed with the given color, gives black (for mixing pigments) or white (for mixing light).
  • The complement of blue is orange.
  • (set theory) Given two sets, the set containing one set's elements that are not members of the other set (whether a relative complement or an absolute complement).
  • The complement of the odd numbers is the even numbers, relative to the natural numbers.
  • (immunology) One of several blood proteins that work with antibodies during an immune response.
  • (logic) An expression related to some other expression such that it is true under the same conditions that make other false, and vice versa.
  • (electronics) A voltage level with the opposite logical sense to the given one.
  • (computing) A bit with the opposite value to the given one; the logical complement of a number.
  • (computing, mathematics) The diminished radix complement of a number; the nines' complement of a decimal number; the ones' complement of a binary number.
  • The complement of 01100101_2 is 10011010_2.
  • (computing, mathematics) The radix complement of a number; the two's complement of a binary number.
  • The complement of 01100101_2 is 10011011_2.
  • (computing, mathematics) The numeric complement of a number.
  • The complement of -123 is 123.
  • (genetics) A nucleotide sequence in which each base is replaced by the complementary base of the given sequence: adenine (A) by thymine (T) or uracil (U), cytosine (C) by guanine (G), and vice versa.
  • A DNA molecule is formed from two strands, each of which is the complement of the other.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To complete, to bring to perfection, to make whole.
  • We believe your addition will complement the team.
  • To provide what the partner lacks and lack what the partner provides.
  • The flavors of the pepper and garlic complement each other, giving a very rich taste in combination.
    I believe our talents really complement each other.
  • To change a voltage, number, color, etc. to its complement.
  • See also

    * compliment * invert * inversion * negate * negation * supplement

    References

    * DeLone et. al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music . Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0130493465.