REFLECTION PAPER ON EDUCATIONAL TOUR

Reflection paper on_educational_tour from Nestly Tapia

COMPLEMENT

COMPLEMENT 

What is a complement?

Complements are words or groups of words that are necessary to complete the meaning of another part of the sentence. Complements act like modifiers to add additional meaning to the word or words they are attached to. However, unlike adjunct modifiers, they do not add supplemental information—they provide information that is necessary to achieve the intended meaning in the sentence.

Complements, even those that complete the meaning of the subject, are always part of the predicate.

Types of Complements

There are five main categories of complements: objects, object complements, adjective complements, adverbial complements, and subject complements. We’ll briefly look at each below. To learn more about them, continue on to their individual sections.

Objects

Grammatical objects are nouns or pronouns that complete the meaning of verbs and prepositions. Depending on what they complete, objects are also sometimes known as either verb complements or prepositional complements.

There are three types of objects: direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.

Direct objects

Direct objects are directly affected by verbs they complete—that is, the verb’s action is happening directly to them. For example:

“The dog chased its tail.”

“Mary reads a new book every week.”

Indirect objects

An indirect object is the person or thing who receives the direct object of the verb.

For example:

“Please pass me the salt.”

“I sent the company an application for the job.”

Objects of prepositions

Prepositions also take objects, connecting them back to another element of the sentence to elaborate on its meaning. Together, the preposition and its object form a prepositional phrase. For example:

“Your backpack is under the table.”

“I got a ticket for speeding.”

Object Complements

An object complement is a word or group of words that describes, renames, or completes the meaning of the direct object of a verb. It can be a noun, adjective, relative clause, infinitive, gerund, or a phrase made from any one of them.

Nouns and noun phrases

When we use nouns as object complements, they serve to rename or re-identify the object of factitive verbs. For example:

“The committee elected him treasurer.”

“Mrs. Fields named her late husband the executor of her estate.”

Adjectives and adjective phrases

Adjectives that function as object complements serve to describe or modify the direct object. Like all object complements, adjectives must follow the direct object they are describing. If they come before it, they are simply acting as attributive adjectives, which are not necessary to complete the meaning of the sentence.

“All he wanted was to make his husband happy.”

“The excitement of the day got the kids way too hyper.”

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are dependent clauses that are introduced by relative pronouns. Like adjectives, relative clauses serve to describe the object that they follow; for this reason, they are often called adjective clauses.

For example:

“Do you know someone who can work the printer?”

“I hate the color that they painted this room.”

Infinitives and infinitive phrases

An infinitive or infinitive phrase acts as an object complement by describing the intended or desired action of the direct object. For example:

“I didn’t expect you to approve.”

“She’s forcing me to work this the weekend.”

Gerunds and gerund phrases

Gerunds generally function as object complements by describing what the direct object is or was doing (as opposed to infinitives, which describe an act that has not yet been done).

For example:

“We came across him lying in the yard.”

“My mother noticed the baby walking by himself.”

Adjective Complements

An adjective complement (also called an adjective phrase complement) is a phrase or clause that provides information necessary to complete an adjective’s meaning. Adjective complements can be prepositional phrases, infinitives and infinitive phrases, or noun clauses.

Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases describe the relationship between the adjectives they complement and the objects of their prepositions.

“I am perfectly content on my own.”

“He felt alone in the world.”

Infinitives and infinitive phrases

Infinitives and infinitive phrases describe actions that result from or lead to the adjective they complement.

For example:

“I’m very happy to know you!”

“We’re just glad to be of service.”

Noun Clauses

A noun clause is a dependent clause that is able to function grammatically like a noun. It connects the adjective’s meaning to an action by a secondary subject.

“We were a little curious why they decided to leave.”

“I’m thrilled that you are coming to visit!”

Adverbial Complements

Adverbial complements are adverbs or adverbial elements in a clause that are required to complete the meaning of the verb.

Adverbial complements usually describe location or direction, and most frequently occur with verbs that indicate motion. They always appear after the verb they complement.

If the verb is intransitive, the complement will appear directly after the verb; if the verb is transitive, the complement will appear after the verb’s direct object.

For example:

“The teacher sent Tim home.”

“Please put the book on the shelf.”

Subject Complements

A subject complement is the information that follows a linking verb to describe, identify, or rename the subject of the clause. A subject complement can either be a predicate noun, a predicate pronoun, or a predicative adjective.

Predicate nouns

Predicate nouns serve to rename or re-identify the subject after a linking verb. If the noun is accompanied by any direct modifiers (such as determiners, adjectives, or prepositional phrases), the entire noun phrase acts predicatively.

For example:

“Love is a virtue.”

“Tommy seems like a real bully.”

Predicate pronouns

We can also use a predicate pronoun after a linking verb to re-identify the subject. This is most common in questions and responses in which the identity of the subject is not known or is being explained. For example:

Question: “Who is it?”

Answer: “It’s me!”

We can also use predicate pronouns in declarative statements, but this is less common in everyday speech and writing. For instance:

“It was I who did this.”

“Her husband took all the credit, but it was she who did all the work.”

Predicative Adjectives

A predicative adjective is an adjective used after a linking verb to describe or modify the subject of the clause. For example:

“You look nice.”

“He is very handsome.”

When a prepositional phrase follows a linking verb (especially the verb be), it functions in the same way as a predicative adjective to describe the subject. For example:

“The cat is in the shed.” (The prepositional phrase in the shed is describing the subject the cat.)

“I am across the street.” (The prepositional phrase across the street is describing the subject I.)

EXAMPLES OF SENTENCE PATTERN

EXAMPLES OF SENTENCE PATTERN

Abbreviations for important components in a sentence.

Subject (S)	Verb (V)	Object (O)
Complement (C)	Adverbial (A)	Direct Object (DO)
Indirect Object (IO)

There are basically five sentence patterns in English Grammar. They are

e.g.

SV	Subject + Verb
SVO	Subject + Verb + Object
SVIODO	Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object
SVC	Subject + Verb + Complement
SVOC	Subject + Verb + Object + Complement

Note : Adjunct or Adverbial could be added to all these five patterns.

e.g.

Subject Verb Object Examples - (SVO)

S+V+O
I / finished / the work
I / like / puppies
David / scolded / the boy
We / received / the parcel
She / sings / a song
They / did / a lot of work
He / resembles / her father
Many students / witnessed / the play
The police / arrested / the thief
I / want / one of these books
I / love / England
Peter / secured / admission
A huntsman / pursued / a wild animal
Many critics / criticised / the play
My mother / is teaching / French
She / is / a teacher

Subject Verb Adverbial Examples - (SVA)

S+V+A
He / came / to the party
They / came / suddenly
It / is going / away
The train / arrived / late
They / will come / later
It / rained / last night
She / worked / in a second-hand bookshop
They / went / to the market
He / reads / slowly
The noise / faded / away

Subject Verb Complement Examples - (SVC)

S+V+C
They / are / players
Her father / is / a doctor
I / am / an Indian
The class / became / noisy
Her eyes / are / beautiful
Mother Teresa / is / India’s gift to the world
Our headmaster sideline / was / a lending library
The leaves / turn / yellow
Her dreams / have come / true
They / worked / hard
The tea / is getting / cold
It / was / a very pleasant talk

Adverbial Subject Verb Examples - (ASV)

A+S+V
Soon / we / wake up
Nicely / he / replied
fondly / she / asked
Yesterday / I / came
Tomorrow / she / leaves

Subject Verb Object Complement Examples - (SVOC)

S+V+O+C
They / made / him / captain
They / named / him / Robert
They / elected / him / president
They / elected / him / speaker
They / made / him / the Mayor
They / made / David / Chairman of the Rotary club
The news / made / his name / popular
She / made / him / happy
She / learnt / music / last year
She / got / her shoes / wet
She / recognised / him / as a genius
He / painted / the wall / white
England / declared / me / a jew
He / made / his son / a doctor

Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object Examples - (SVIODO)

S+V+IO+DO
We / wish / you / Happy new year
The principal / gave / him / the medal
He / gave / her / a watch
She / sold / him / her house
Paul / gave / his wife / a gift
The Headmaster / showed / her / the result
He / sent / us / some foreign stamps
The doctor / gave / her / medicine
Sarah / sent / Paul / a gift
She / offered / me / a firm hand shake
They / sold / him / pictures

Subject Verb Object Complement Adverbial Examples - (SVOCA)

S+V+O+C+A
She / made / her views / clear / at the outset
The company / appointed / him / clerk / last week
They / named / their baby / Sarah / in the church
They / took / the child, / unconscious / to the hospital
She / made / his intentions / clear / now
She / had made / his life / a success / long back
I / lost / my purse / with money / in the bus
The governor / has sworn / him / chief minister / yesterday

Subject Verb Object Adverbial Examples - (SVOA)

S+V+O+A
The boy / kicks / the ball / with force
She / made / a new dress / yesterday
The kidnapper / locked / the child / in a lonely house
He / threw / the chair / out
She / invited / the guests / to get in
They / played / the match / in broad daylight
The thieves / broke open / the lockers / in the bank
I / shall meet / you / at the railway station
You / will understand / the truth / one day
She / lost / her father / last week
She / shot / the tiger / at once
You / will understand / the truth / one day
He / wrote / a letter / from Paris
They / want / money / immediately
He / got / his shoes / wet
They / had / their lunch / in the late hours
He / felt / a hand / on his shoulder

Subject Verb Object Adverbial Adverbial Examples - (SVOAA)

S+V+O+A+A
I / met / Sarah / at the theatre / yesterday
He / practised / pistol shooting / in the firing range / in London
Everyone / relished / the dinner / in the hotel / yesterday
She / enjoyed / the music recital immensely / yesterday
They / pushed / the bus / from behind / to make it move
I / will close / the shop / early / today
The rider / brought / the news / typed / at night
He / left / the book / on the table / at once

Subject Verb Complement Adverbial Examples - (SVCA)

S+V+C+A
The child / fell / asleep / soon
You / seem / tired / to day
It / is / dark / everywhere
She / became / wise / thereafter
They / reached / home / late
The train / left / the station / on time
She / got / well / soon
He / became / popular / at once
I / am / a programmer / in this company
She / acts / well / at all times
My father / is / an engineer / in India
He / got / well / slowly
I / am / the principal / here
Dr.David / is / famous / in his locality
David / is / a doctor / at Paris
She / was made / the Mayor / last week
Mr.Obama / was elected / the President / last month

Adverbial Subject Verb Object Examples - (ASVO)

A+S+V+O
Everyday / she / was / late
In broad daylight, / she / fell / unconscious
Often / Akbar / got / mad
This year / she / is / the captain
During day time / he / is / an honest man

Adverbial Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object Examples - (ASVIODO)

A+S+V+IO+DO
Last night / She / gave / him / food
Last week / he / gave / his son / new shirts
Every day / she / teaches / them / science
Everywhere / people / gave / the President / a welcome
During lunch / I / served / him / ice-cream

Adverbial Subject Verb Object Complement Adverbial Examples - (ASVOCA)

A+S+V+O+C+A
In the end, / the judge / declared / the culprit / innocent, / after the trial
Yesterday / the man / murdered / a woman / in rags, / mercilessly
In ancient times / people / shot / deer / dead / in the forest
Last month / they / christened / the child, / John / in the Church
Next Sunday / we / will paint / the car / red / in the meeting
Every day / she / noticed / the poor, / half dead / in the street corners

Adverbial Adverbial Subject Verb Complement Examples - (AASVC)

A+A+S+V+C
In the prayer hall, / during whorship / they / are / silent
Every day, / in the hostel, / she / is / asleep
Next month, / in Bombay, / they / have / a meeting
Every week, / in her garden / she / is / at work
Last week, / in Paris, / she / worked / as a professor

Verb Object Examples - (VO)

V+O
Pardon / me.
Call / him.
Try / it.