Questions tagged [complements]
For questions about the use of, or meaning of, complements.
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As if as though
I am having a problem identifing which gramatical function as if (as though, like) has
As far as I know
After linking verbs, we have noun/ noun phrase/ noun clause and adjective/ adjective phrase ...
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Is 'there' a locative complement in this example?
[1] He was the only one there.
In this sentence, 'the only one there' is an example of a predicative complement (subject complement), a predicative nominal. However, inside this noun phrase, we have ...
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To help and gerund clauses
I've reached an impasse with my girlfriend (both non-native speakers) about this sentence she used:
Maybe we didn't have enough of it for it to become routine again and help measuring time
To me, ...
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How to analyze e.g., "The man had trouble finding shoes to fit"
In a sentence like "The man had trouble finding shoes to fit," how might "had trouble finding shoes to fit" be analyzed? Is this like a direct object ("trouble") and ...
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What is the constituent type of 'laugh' in 'I saw her laugh'?
Could someone explain to me the constituent type of “laugh” as in “I saw her laugh”？ Best with an X-bar graph. I know it's a lot of trouble. You don't have to draw the whole thing, a simplified ...
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Does the sentence "I need you to make these calls for me" contain an object complement?
I'm currently working on my paper and predicative constructions confuse me so much. The book I use tells that object complements can follow the verbs of wish & intention, but there was no word ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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-...
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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 ...
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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?
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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;...
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Can a Noun or Noun phrase ever be Secondary Predicate complement or adjunct?
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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] - ...
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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&...
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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 ...
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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)?
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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.
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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]:...
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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 ...
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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
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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:
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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?
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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-...
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