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.
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.”
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
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 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.”
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 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.”
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 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.”
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.”
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.)
