Questions tagged [complements]
For questions about the use of, or meaning of, complements.
141
questions
3
votes
1answer
60 views
Indirect complement or extraposed subject?
Is the content clause ('that she saw him commit the crime') in the following sentence an extraposed subject or an indirect complement* licensed by 'so'?
It just so happens that she saw him commit the ...
1
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0answers
39 views
agreement of the subject complement with the subject
A colleague of mine asked me, "Can we say 'My favorite food is hamburgers.'"
I said of course it is correct. But she said a native speaker says it is wrong. It should be "My favorite ...
0
votes
0answers
38 views
On the arguments of 'put'
I have noticed that the verb 'put' usually takes a direct object and a (typically) prepositional, non-core complement, as in:
He put the book on the shelf
Sometimes, the prepositional complement is ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
What is the difference between a predicate nominative/predicate adjectives and a subject complement?
For example, the sentence "John was a policeman" or "Ben was angry." Both describe the subject, so I'd call them subject complements. But they could also be a predicate nominative ...
0
votes
2answers
52 views
Omissibility of "to be" before Noun or Adjective [duplicate]
I have heard that cognitive verbs such as 'think, believe, consider, suppose, understand, imagine...etc.' should use 'to be + noun' or 'to be + adjective' in the object complement.
She believed him ...
2
votes
0answers
108 views
Structure and usage of the construction - BE of
I have seen various sentences like this:
The availability of two reasonably complete mammalian genomes is of great help to gene finders. - The New York Times
I do my utmost to dress the actors very ...
0
votes
0answers
41 views
Noun adjuncts or complements? [duplicate]
I asked a question regarding PP complements the other day and I believe I now have a better handle on that. But I am still scratching my head over this paragraph from CGEL:
Within the category of ...
1
vote
2answers
113 views
Multi-layer prepositional phrase
I am having trouble picturing the structure of this preposition phrase
from the point of view of generative syntax (PP)
My attempt to run it down goes like this:
from (preposition) + the point of ...
1
vote
0answers
49 views
How can I tell if a prepositional phrase is a complement to a noun or a modifier? And how are these two different?
In the NP "mines in wartime", "in wartime" modifies the head "mines".
that nice tall man from Canada whom you met
"from Canada" modifies "man".
But ...
1
vote
2answers
107 views
Grammar rule: ONE sentence; ONE subject, ONE predicate. Is it?
I just watched a video on grammar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drv6jD8xWdw) that states that English sentences can only have one subject. At first, I thought it was obvious, but then I thought of ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
Preparatory it; not possible for complements
I was reading Practical English Usage, by Michael Swan and got into something that has got me deeply confused. It basically says that preparatory it can be used as a preparatory subject or object, but ...
1
vote
1answer
72 views
predicative complement vs predicative adjunct
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 250) has this passage:
Here, Od is Direct Object, and Oi is Indirect Object.
It seems that CGEL is saying that almost raw in [i-ii] and fiendishly ...
0
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0answers
36 views
What are the subjects, objects, complements and gerunds in this sentence?
As with most great avant artists, it’s easier to describe how Arca makes you feel than what it is, exactly, she makes.
Just wanted clarification on a few things. What is the first part of the ...
1
vote
2answers
67 views
Was this subject complement diagrammed correctly?
The sentence is the following. I'm focusing on the part in bold:
Feeding the goats is messy and time consuming.
It's in this book.
The author provides the following diagram:
And I think it should ...
0
votes
1answer
33 views
What are the objects and indirect objects in this sentence (if any)
The storage making your home work harder.
It's from a furniture advertisement, and I was just wondering how to dissect the complements here.
Is it that storage is the subject, making is the verb, ...
0
votes
3answers
103 views
That-clause in "it seems that"
Is the that-clause in the following sentence a predicative complement or a displaced subject with it being the dummy subject?
It seemed that he was correct.
My understanding is that if the that-...
1
vote
0answers
54 views
What is the nature of That-complementizer here?
It was in 1945 that World World 2 ended.
I think that is a complementizer, but I'm not sure of the nature of this complement. By nature I mean the part of speech of the complement clause and to what ...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
Which of the following sentences uses a subject complement? [closed]
What about C, isn't a bit anxious about the test tomorrow also a subject complement following the linking verb am?
0
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0answers
74 views
Adjective placed before a noun but adjectival complement after it
Page 14 of Practical English Usage reads
In some cases an adjective can be put before a noun and its complement
after it. This happens with different, similar, the same, next, last,
first, second etc;...
0
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0answers
41 views
Can a Noun or Noun phrase ever be Secondary Predicate complement or adjunct?
1
She drank the coffee [hot] - adjective
The winter froze the Lake [solid]-adjective
Sam painted the wall [green] - adjective
The boy delivered the package [wet] - adjective
She sells them [new] - ...
1
vote
2answers
136 views
Is it possible to have a "noun or noun phrase" as object/subject complement in "Depictive or Resultative" construction?
A sentence containing ditransitive verb can have two objects.
In the ditransitive verbs a subcategory, as it is described in some of the articles, usually called "Attributive ditransitive verbs&...
2
votes
0answers
34 views
Analyzing the verb “to head”
This is both a usage question and a grammatical analysis question. I am familiar with complex transitive verbs, such as "to place", where one has to have at least one complement, besides the ...
0
votes
1answer
167 views
Grammar of sentence "He helps people find happiness"? Object Complement or Indirect object?
He helps people find happiness.
Is this an example of an Indirect Object (People) or an Object Complement (find happiness)?
0
votes
1answer
70 views
Temporal Participial Phrases
He lay staring into the sky.
He came running towards me.
He arrived finding nobody there.
I have read this by John Lawler but am struggling to put these into one of the five categories he mentioned.
...
3
votes
2answers
147 views
Omitting "by" preposition and the resulted phrase
Consider the following examples:
I paid for it by using my credit card.
I was in contact with my friends by sending letters.
I learned how to dance by watching online videos
if I remove the ...
1
vote
2answers
45 views
Grammar analysis: why is "Fufu" in the following sentence object complement rather than direct object
I called my pug Fufu: subject...object...object complement(Introducing English Grammar, p.93)
Yet if I say:
I give my pug some water.
then pug would be indirect object and some water would be ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
What kind of complementation for "be regarded"?
I'm trying to find where the passive form "be regarded" belongs in terms of transitivity.
In the sentence:
Only a minority of countries would be regarded as part of the third world.
Is the verb would ...
2
votes
1answer
205 views
Is an object of a verb a complement of a verb or of a verb phrase (a predicate)?
a. I love you.
Here, you is the object of the verb love. It's also a complement, because it completes the meaning of the sentence.
Per Wikipedia, complement is defined as:
In grammar, a ...
0
votes
1answer
309 views
Singular or plural of 'type' [duplicate]
I have the following two sentences:
In Germany, the most common type are air-water heat pumps, followed by brine-water heat pumps.
In this thesis three type(s) of optimization approaches are ...
2
votes
2answers
109 views
Is 'the course' a complement or an adjunct in 'Stay the course'?
Stay the course is a fixed expression, but I'd like to know how to analyze the course. At first blush, it seems to be complement of the verb stay.
But then, you have a similar-looking example stay ...
2
votes
0answers
124 views
Is the relative clause always an adjunct/modifier of the antecedent?
The first two sentences mean the same thing, and so do the last two.
(1) She's obviously the person to finish the job.
(1') She's obviously the person who should finish the job.
(2) She was the first ...
1
vote
1answer
33 views
noun as object complement, which is in S + V + O + N
Considering noun object-complements, can we use prepositions in front of them at will? (S + V + O + Noun OC)
e.g.
He elected me president./He elected me as president
He considers them hypocrites./He ...
2
votes
1answer
70 views
Is this sentence missing a noun?
I know in some cases a prepositional phrase can be a complement to another prepositional phrase, but this sentence just sounds like it is missing a noun.
So I made myself this little promise that I ...
0
votes
0answers
559 views
Appositive or Complement?
The way (that) he eats amuses me.
I found the way (that) leads out of here.
I love ice-cream in the same way (that) I love my mom.
1) The part of speech of the word that is conjunction in ...
-1
votes
4answers
336 views
Is 'to resign' an object or subject complement in 'The teacher wishes to resign'?
The teacher (S) wishes (V) to resign
It is no doubt that 'to resign' is a complement of something, but is it a complement of the noun The teacher or the verb wishes?
Subject complement [analysis 1]:...
1
vote
0answers
212 views
complement vs adjunct/modifier
In the following noun phrase, is the prepositional phrase from Lloyds complement or adjunct/modifier?
even all the preposterous salary from Lloyds that Bill gets
The Cambridge Grammar of The ...
1
vote
1answer
67 views
The way which you should hold them
The Cambridge Grammar of the english Language, page 224, reads
Complements are most often NPs, and conversely NPs are usually
complements. Some NPs can occur with adjunct function, but they tend
...
0
votes
0answers
51 views
How to determine if a complement is a predicative complement or a locative complement?
(1) She is out and will be back in soon.
(2) She is out and will be conscious soon.
Is out a locative complement in (1) but a predicative complement in (2)?
If so, is the distinction between the two ...
-1
votes
1answer
347 views
participles as object complements
Can participles or participial phrases serve as object complements in traditional grammar? And are direct objects viewed as a type of complement in traditional grammar?
I'd appreciate reference to ...
0
votes
1answer
53 views
Structure after All/What with predicative complement
Possibly didn’t make the subject clear enough. I don’t know if that can be changed?
To me, structures of this type should follow what you normally use after the main verb.
For instance:
All I want ...
0
votes
3answers
119 views
What is the grammatical topic of this shortening technique?
Extracted from an English cloze test:
.....these virtual selves exist in the same online spaces that many people use every day. And this is a new and unfamiliar phenomenon that some people might ...
1
vote
1answer
219 views
Object or complement with "have"
Take the following sentence:
"He has blue eyes"
Does "blue eyes" act as an object or a complemet?
Would the answer be different in a sentence such as:
3
votes
3answers
111 views
Is 'to smoke' a complement or adjunct in this sentence?
I hope you are all well.
He stopped to smoke.
Is to smoke a complement of stop or is it an infinitive-of-purpose adjunct?
0
votes
1answer
158 views
Can 'smart home' and similar phrases be adjectives if followed by a noun, or do they become complements? [closed]
I'm having some confusion here as I've been tasked with checking that some texts fit a style guide for work, and it requires that two adjectives directly preceding a noun be hyphenated, e.g. 'well-...
2
votes
1answer
51 views
How to understand the "of somebody" part
It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle that when he heard of the illness of his friend, Henry Taylor, he went off immediately to visit him, carrying with him in his pocket what remained of a bottle of ...
1
vote
2answers
105 views
"They reported being told to..." Trying to explain
I have never really thought about this one before, but out of curiosity, is it grammatical to have "being" after the verb "report"? Here is an example:
"They reported being told to stay behind the ...
1
vote
0answers
55 views
Why aren't degree modifiers complements?
As far as I've been able to figure out, in the CaGEL* framework, complements are items that are licensed by some other element (generally the head), so that if an item has to be licensed, it is per ...
1
vote
0answers
65 views
Function of PPs with predicative complements
According to CaGEL* (e.g. p.636 ff), prepositions can take predicative complements, as in
[1] She worked as a waitress
[2] He passed for dead
[3] I took you for granted
[4] They left him for ...
5
votes
2answers
312 views
What is the nature of, and syntactic distinction between, modifier and complement?
I am struggling to understand the syntactic relevance of the distinction between complement and modifier in theories such as the one presented in the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
CaGEL equivalent to obligatory adverbial?
When I learnt grammar in school, I was taught that there are optional and obligatory adverbials. Trying to understand grammar in the form presented by Huddleston and Pullum (e.g. the Cambridge Grammar ...