The predicate of a sentence expresses the state of the subject or the action that the subject performs. The predicate includes the verb or verb phrase and any objects (direct or indirect) or modifiers that follow it. Every sentence must have a predicate.
Makers of beer and soft-drink containers in the U.S. produce 300
million aluminum beverage cans a day.
--William Hostold and John Duncan, "The Aluminum Beverage Can," Scientific American
