Is "sad" a subject complement and "when his toy fell on the ground" - an adverbial? Do I understand it right that semantically "the boy" is Agent?
-
I don't think "agent" is valid for your example. In something like "The boy kicked the ball", the boy is the "agent", the ball is the "patient", but this is more a linguistic categorisation system than one you'll encounter in traditional grammar.– FumbleFingersCommented Jan 4, 2015 at 21:41
-
2No, it's not a subject complement; a subject complement is a clause. Sad is the predicate. And since it's an adjective, it's a predicate adjective. The adverbial clause beginning with while is indeed an adverbial. As for the role of the subject NP, it's "experiencer", since the predicate is an emotion.– John LawlerCommented Jan 4, 2015 at 21:42
-
@JohnLawler en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject_complement from what I know, a subject complement is not always a clause– maryCommented Jan 4, 2015 at 22:02
-
1Sorry, Wikipedia got it wrong, as often happens with crowd-sourced grammar rules. "Subject complement" is not a term in use by grammarians or linguists to refer to predicate adjectives. For "subject complements" in actual use, see here or here. For predicates, including predicate nouns and predicate adjectives, see here.– John LawlerCommented Jan 4, 2015 at 22:17
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
It is a predicate adjective. See wikipedia:
Predicative adjectives are linked via a copula or other linking mechanism to the noun or pronoun they modify; for example, happy is a predicate adjective in "they are happy" and in "that made me happy."
The term "adjective complement" is also sometimes used to refer to predicate adjectives. See here.
answered Jan 4, 2015 at 22:51
