A simple predicate is the part of a sentence that tells what the subject does or is. It usually consists of a verb or verb phrase and does not include any modifiers or additional information. For example, in the sentence "The dog barks," the simple predicate is "barks," which describes the action of the subject, the dog. Identifying the simple predicate helps clarify the main action in a sentence. In more complex sentences, the simple predicate can still be found by focusing on the main verb. For instance, in "The cat chased the mouse," the simple predicate is "chased," indicating what the cat did.