10.1 Definitions

In §§ 7.2 and 7.6 we saw that the true predicate in English sentences such as This plan is excellent and This plan is a disaster is the adjective (excellent) or the noun or noun phrase (a disaster) that follows the verb is. English also has sentences in which the predicate is a prepositional phrase or an adverb: for example, Jack is in the barn and Jill is here. As in adjectival and nominal sentences, English requires the verb is, but the verb doesn't really add much information to the sentence: what is important is the part of the predicate after is. The word here is an adverb, and prepositional phrases such as in the barn can also function as adverbs (§ 8.11). Grammarians call a predicate such as is in the barn or is here an adverbial predicate.

Egyptian also has sentences in which the predicate is an adverb or a prepositional phrase. As in sentences with nominal or adjectival predicates, these are non-verbal sentences in Egyptian, without a verb that corresponds to the English verb is. Egyptologists call them adverbial sentences, short for the more accurate term “sentences with adverbial or prepositional predicates.”