Download Don`t mistake a subject complement for a direct object.

Complement
Definition:
A complement is the part of a Sentence that comes after the Verb and is needed to make the sentence
complete. The following are the most important types of complement used in English:
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
Eg: He's a surveyor. (The Subject is completed by the complement to the verb. This is a Copula Verb.
OBJECT COMPLEMENT
Eg: She sent him the fax. (The sentence is completed by telling us what she sent to him.)
ADJECTIVAL COMPLEMENT
Eg: They'll be happy. (The sentence is completed by the Adjective; this could be extended further,
they'll be happy to see us, etc..)
PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT
Eg: They talked about what needed doing. (The sentence is completed by the Phrase linked to the verb
by the Preposition.)
Here's the Cliff's on Object Complements:
1. Complements are Noun Clauses (i.e, clauses used as nouns), and they may function either as
Subject or as Direct Object. In all the examples below the bold italic parts are Object
complements.
There are three major form classes of complements:
o
The Infinitive Clause, which is non-finite
I hope to go to the fair.
Bill told me to leave early.
o
The Gerund Clause, which is also non-finite
I enjoy playing "Stairway to Heaven".
I witnessed his achieving the summit.
o
The That-Clause, which is finite
I think (that) I shouldn't play it so often.
Bill told me (that) I shouldn't play it so often.
2. Finite Clauses need Subjects, and in them Tense (either Present or Past) is marked on the verb,
just like any sentence; they are sentences themselves, and can have their own complements, etc.
3. (The Rules for Finite Clauses are:
o There must be a Subject.
o The Subject must be Nominative (and may not be Objective or Possessive).
o The verb must express Tense.
o The verb must agree with the Subject in Person and Number.)
4.
Non-Finite Clauses, on the other hand, don't inflect the verb for tense, though there are several
kinds of compound infinitive or gerund (e.g, to have been seen is a Perfect Passive Infinitive, having
introduced is a Perfect Gerund, etc.), which are available for the discerning speaker.
5.
Object Complements may be used only after certain verbs, and while all verbs that take Object
Complements are transitive in some sense, not all transitive verbs may take Object Complements. E.g,
kick is certainly transitive in most of its uses, but it does not take a complement in any use:
6.
He kicked *that Fred is here.
7.
*Fred's being here.
8.
*for Fred to be here.
9.
Not only does the main or matrix verb determine whether an object complement may be used, it
also determines which type of object Complement may be used. I.e, some verbs like want may take
only an infinitive:
10.
I want (you) to leave now.
I want *(me/you, my/your) leaving now.
I want *(that) I/you leave now.
Whereas others, like try, may take either an infinitive or a gerund, but never a that-clause:
I tried to waterski on one foot
I tried waterskiing on one foot
*I tried (that) I waterski on one foot
(Some people notice a small and subtle difference between the two grammatical sentences
above, but it's not always discernible.)
.. and so on. Every verb that takes an Object Complement has a unique pattern of which
complements it allows, whether the choice of complement makes a semantic difference or not,
and what kind of difference it might make, which senses and tenses of the verb work with which
choices, and which subclasses of complement are allowed, required, or forbidden.
Some infinitives may have a subject (in the objective case), which may be introduced with for:
He said for me to wait.
Some may not use a for:
He told me to wait.
Some may not use a subject at all, especially if it's identical with the subject of the matrix verb:
He intends to wait.
Some infinitives (most, actually) use to, but many don't:
He must (*to) go.
He let me (*to) go.
11.
12.
13.
He had me (*to) go.
Again, all of this is determined by the matrix verb.
Some gerunds may have a subject (usually in the possessive case, though often in the objective):
He resents my being smarter than he is. (possessive)
He resents me being smarter than he is. (objective)
Some speakers sense a small, subtle distinction between the two constructions, and others find
the objective case usage prescriptively incorrect, though it is statistically the more common.
Some that-clauses (the Indicative ones) use a regular tensed verb, while others (the Subjunctive
ones) use the infinitive form of the verb, without other inflection:
It's important that he is here today.
It's important that he be here today.
Once again, this is determined by the Matrix Verb.
If you're learning English, you should learn these facts about each verb as you encounter it. They
should be in any good English dictionary, like the ones published in England (Longmans, etc.) Do not
use a dictionary published in the United States (Merriam-Webster, Random House, etc.) They do
not contain such grammatical information because American English speakers are not generally taught
enough about their language to understand it, and dictionary publishers exploit this fact by ignoring
grammar.
Learning the grammatical facts of usage about verbs is roughly equivalent to learning the gender and
declension of Latin nouns; it's just part of the language.
-- followup:
>In the sentence, "He liked pork chops so much that he ate them every
>day", what part of speech is "that" and what does it modify?
Well, of the classical Latin eight, this that doesn't really fit easily into any of the categories, which I
suspect is the source of your question.
There's that demonstrative pronoun that in English, contrasting with this, these, and those in a
paradigm, but in the sentence you give, that's clearly not the right that.
Then there's that that that introduces restrictive relative clauses, but again, since this isn't a relative
clause, that can't be the that either.
If you feel constrained to explain it in terms of Latin grammar for some reason, you might get away
with saying that it's the second half of the Subordinating Equative Correlative Conjunction so ... that ...,
(like as ... as ...). Equative constructions contrast with Comparative more ... than ... and Superlative
(the) most ... of ....
But that doesn't really help, because each of those constructions has its own very peculiar syntax, and
saying it's half of a conjunction isn't saying very much.
What I'd call it is a Complementizer, like that that that introduces finite subject or object clauses:
That he's alive at all is astounding. (subject complement)
It's astounding (that) he's alive at all (object complement).
I think (that) he's alive. (object complement)
Note that this that complementizer is optional unless it introduces a sentence (try deleting it in
the first example), and indeed it's optional in the sentence you cite:
He liked pork chops so much he ate them every day.
So that's one more argument for complementizer status.
Questions about "part of speech" usually don't help much in understanding English grammar,
since English doesn't have nearly as much morphology (endings, roughly) as Latin. Instead
English uses syntax -- the other half of grammar -- and word classes are much less useful than
talking about "constructions"
Predicates, Objects,
Complements
Select from the follow ing
Predicates
A predicate is the completer of a sentence. The subject names the "do-er" or "be-er" of the sentence;
the predicate does the rest of the work. A simple predicate consists of only a verb, verb string, or
compound verb:



The glacier melted.
The glacier has been melting.
The glacier melted, broke apart, and slipped into the sea.
A compound predicate consists of two (or more) such predicates connected:

The glacier began to slip down the mountainside and eventually crushed some of the village's
outlying buildings.
A complete predicate consists of the verb and all accompanying modifiers and other words that
receive the action of a transitive verb or complete its meaning. The following description of predicates
comes from The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers (examples our own):
With an intransitive verb, objects and complements are included in the predicate. (The glacier is
melting.) With a transitive verb, objects and object complements are said to be part of the predicate.
(The slow moving glacier wiped out an entire forest. It gave the villagers a lot of problems.) With a
linking verb, the subject is connected to a subject complement. (The mayor doesn't feel good.)
A predicate adjective follows a linking verb and tells us something about the subject:



Ramonita is beautiful.
His behavior has been outrageous.
That garbage on the street smells bad.
A predicate nominative follows a linking verb and tells us what the subject is:


Dr. Couchworthy is acting president of the university.
She used to be the tallest girl on the team.
Direct and Indirect Objects
A direct object is the receiver of action within a sentence, as in "He hit the
ball." Be careful to distinguish between a direct object and an object
complement:

They named their daughter Natasha.
Click on "Mr.
Morton" to read and
hear Lynn Ahren's
"The Tale of Mr.
The indirect object identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is
Morton," and learn
performed. The direct object and indirect object are different people or places
all about subjects
or things. The direct objects in the sentences below are in boldface; the
and simple
indirect objects are in italics.
predicates (from
Scholastic Rock).
 The instructor gave his students A's.
Schoolhouse Rock®
 Grandfather left Rosalita and Raoul all his money.
and its characters
 Jo-Bob sold me her boat.
and other
Incidentally, the word me (and similar object-form pronouns such as him, us,
elements are
them) is not always an indirect object; it will also serve, sometimes, as a direct
trademarks and
object.
service marks of
American
 Bless me/her/us!
Broadcasting
 Call me/him/them if you have questions.
Companies, Inc.
Used with
In English, nouns and their accompanying modifiers (articles and adjectives)
permission.
do not change form when they are used as objects or indirect objects, as they
do in many other languages. "The radio is on the desk" and "I borrowed the radio" contain exactly the
same word form used for quite different functions. This is not true of pronouns, however, which use
different forms for different functions. (He [subject] loves his grandmother. His grandmother loves him
[object].) (See, also, pronoun cases.)
In that sentence, "daughter" is the direct object and "Natasha" is the object
complement, which renames or describes the direct object.
Complements
Since this page is about the completers of thoughts, it is appropriate to include a brief description of
complements. A complement (notice the spelling of the word) is any word or phrase that completes
the sense of a subject, an object, or a verb. As you will see, the terminology describing predicates and
complements can overlap and be a bit confusing. Students are probably wise to learn one set of terms,
not both.

A subject complement follows a linking verb; it is normally an adjective or a noun that renames
or defines in some way the subject.
o A glacier is a huge body of ice.
o Glaciers are beautiful and potentially dangerous at the same time.
o This glacier is not yet fully formed. (verb form acting as an adjective, a participle)
Adjective complements are also called predicate adjectives; noun complements are also called
predicate nouns or predicate nominatives. See predicates, above.


An object complement follows and modifies or refers to a direct object. It can be a noun or
adjective or any word acting as a noun or adjective.
o The convention named Dogbreath Vice President to keep him happy. (The noun "Vice
President" complements the direct object "Dogbreath"; the adjective "happy"
complements the object "him.")
o The clown got the children too excited. (The participle "excited" complements the object
"children.")
A verb complement is a direct or indirect object of a verb. (See above.)
o Granny left Raoul all her money. (Both "money" [the direct object] and "Raoul" [the
indirect object] are said to be the verb complements of this sentence.)
The Subject Complement
Recognize a subject complement when you see one.
A subject complement is the adjective, noun, or pronoun that follows a linking verb.
The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be [am, is, are, was, were, has been,
are being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem. These true linking verbs are always linking verbs.
Then you have a list of verbs that can be linking or action: appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain,
smell, sound, taste, and turn. If you can substitute any of the verbs on this second list with an equal sign
[=] and the sentence still makes sense, the verb is almost always linking.
Read these examples:
Brandon is a gifted athlete.
Brandon = subject; is = linking verb; athlete = noun as subject complement.
It was he who caught the winning touchdown Friday night.
It = subject; was = linking verb; he = pronoun as subject complement.
Brandon becomes embarrassed when people compliment his skill.
Brandon = subject; becomes = linking verb; embarrassed = adjective as subject complement.
Brandon's face will turn red.
Face = subject; will turn = linking verb; red = adjective as subject complement. [Will turn is linking
because if you substitute this verb with an equal sign, the sentence still makes sense.]
Don't mistake a subject complement for a direct object.
Only linking verbs can have subject complements. If the verb is action, then the word that answers the
question what? or who? after the subject + verb is a direct object.
When Michelle woke up this morning, she felt sick.
She = subject; felt = linking verb; sick = subject complement. [Felt is linking because if you substitute
this verb with an equal sign, the sentence still makes sense.]
Michelle felt her forehead but did not detect a temperature.
Michelle = subject; felt = action verb. She felt what? Forehead = direct object. [Felt is action because if
you substitute this felt with an equal sign, the sentence does not make sense.]
Use subject pronouns as subject complements.
The chart below contains subject and object pronouns. Because a subject complement provides more
information about the subject, use the subject form of the pronoun—even when it sounds strange.
Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns
I
we
you
he, she, it
they
who
me
us
you
him, her, it
them
whom
Check out these sample sentences:
Don't blame Gerard. It was I who woke you from a sound sleep.
It = subject; was = linking verb; I = subject complement.
Don't get mad at me! I didn't pull your ponytail! It was he.
It = subject; was = linking verb; he = subject complement.
Remember the amazing guitarist I met? This is she.
This = subject; is = linking verb; she = subject complement.
When to Use Objective or Subjective Complements in Sentences
By Geraldine Woods
In English, objective and subjective complements fill out your sentences. Objective complements
aren’t major players in a sentence. They simply provide more detail about the object of a sentence.
Subjective complements are important. They provide information about the subject of the sentence.
Objective complements in sentences
Here’s the deal: sometimes a direct object doesn’t get the whole job done. A little more information is
needed (or just desired), and you don’t want to bother adding a whole new subject-verb pair. The
solution? Use an objective complement — an added fact about the direct object.
The objective complement (italicized in the following sentences) may be a person, place, or thing. In
other words, the objective complement may be a noun:
Eggworthy named Lester copy chief of the Heart Society Bulletin. (named = verb, Eggworthy =
subject, Lester = direct object)
Gloria and others with her world view elected Roger president. (elected = verb, Gloria and others =
subject, Roger = direct object)
Al called his dog Al-Too. (called = verb, Al = subject, dog = direct object)
The objective complement may also be a word that describes a noun. (A word that describes a noun is
called an adjective.) Take a peek at these sample sentences:
Nancy considered her hazy at best. (considered = verb, Nancy = subject, her = direct object)
George dubbed Al-Too ridiculous. (dubbed = verb, George = subject, Al-Too = direct object)
Roger called George heartless. (called = verb, Roger = subject, George = direct object)
As you see, the objective complements in each of the sample sentences give the sentence an extra jolt.
You know more with it than you do without it, but the objective complement is not a major player in
the sentence.
Subjective complements in sentences
Subject complements are major players in sentences. A linking verb begins a word equation; it
expresses a state of being, linking two ideas. The complement completes the equation. Because a
complement following a linking verb expresses something about the subject of the sentence, it is called
a subject complement. In each of the following sentences, the first idea is the subject, and the second
idea (italicized) is the complement:
Nerdo is upset by the bankruptcy of the pocket-protector manufacturer. (Nerdo = upset)
Gloria was a cheerleader before the dog bite incident. (Gloria = cheerleader)
The little orange book will be sufficient for all your firework information needs. (book = sufficient)
It is I, the master of the universe. (It = I)
Subject complements can take several forms. Sometimes the subject complement is an adjective, for
those of you who like the correct terminology. Sometimes the subject complement is a noun or a
pronoun. The first sample sentence equates Nerdo with a description (the adjective upset).
The second sentence equates Gloria with a position (the noun cheerleader). In the third sample
sentence, the subject book is described by the adjective sufficient. The last sentence equates the subject
it with the pronoun I. Don’t worry about these distinctions. They don’t matter! As long as you can find
the subject complement, you’re grasping the sentence structure.