Simple predicate? We had to banish Mel from the game because he was cheating.

There are two clauses here: the main clause and the subordinate clause ("because" and following).

Tell me what you think the two verbs are, and I'll check your work.

I believe that the simple predicate is "had" in the main clause.

In the subordinate clause... "was cheating".

What about "to banish"? is this an infinitive? Or an infinitive used as a direct object?

Your answers are right.

In the sentence "We had to banish Mel from the game because he was cheating," the simple predicate is "had to banish."

To find the simple predicate, we need to identify the verb that describes the main action of the sentence. In this case, the verb is "banish." However, since we are dealing with a compound verb phrase, we need to consider the entire phrase "had to banish."

The word "had" is the main verb indicating that something was required or necessary. And "to banish" is an infinitive verb phrase that describes the action of banishing Mel from the game.

So, the simple predicate in this sentence is "had to banish." It expresses the main action or what the subject "we" had to do.