"Predicate" or "verb"

[Rachel Adams]

What is the difference between "a verb" and "a predicate"? Russian-English dictionaries translate "predicate" sometimes as "verb" sometimes as "сказуемое" which means "predicate" and functions as a verb in a sentence.

1. "I bought a cake."

2. "I have arrived yesterday." "Have arrived" in the second example and "bought" are verbs but is it wrong to call them predicates?

 

[Skrej]

I think the confusion may stem from the fact that the simple predicate is just the verb or verb phrase, while the complete predicate is all the other objects, complements, and modifiers that refer to the subject.

Unfortunately, that important distinction isn't always made clear, and you get this half-truth of 'verb=predicate'.

 

[Rover_KE]

Russian-English dictionaries translate "predicate" sometimes as "verb" sometimes as "сказуемое" which means "predicate" and functions as a verb in a sentence.

Rachel, all the English dictionaries here would have answered your question.