Objects as Complements

PUAN NORAZA AHAMD ZABIDI

Definition of Complement
A complement (notice the spelling of the word) is

any word or phrase that completes the sense of a subject, an object, or a verb. As you will see, the terminology describing predicates and complements can overlap and be a bit confusing. Students are probably wise to learn one set of terms, not both

Different meanings of complement

that is necessary in a sentence to complete its meaning. We find complements that function as an argument (i.e., of equal status to subjects and objects) and complements that exist within arguments.

Complements and Modifiers

sentence. However, a complement is necessary to complete a sentence; a modifier is not. For example, "Put the bread on the table" needs "on the table" to make it complete. In this context, the phrase "on the table" is a complement. By contrast, "The bread on the table is fresh." does not require "on the table" to be complete, so here, the phrase "on the table" is a modifier. A modifier, unlike a complement, is an optional element of a sentence.

 They named their daughter Natasha. In that sentence, "daughter" is the direct object and

"Natasha" is the object complement, which renames or describes the direct object. The robber shot MY BROTHER.
MY BROTHER-is a noun phrase functioning as a Direct object

Object Complement
An object complement follows and modifies or

refers to a direct object. It can be a noun or adjective or any word acting as a noun or adjective.

The convention named Dogbreath Vice President to keep him happy. (The noun "Vice President" complements the direct object "Dogbreath"; the adjective "happy" complements the object "him.") The clown got the children too excited. (The participle "excited" complements the object "children.")

 An object complement modifies an object rather

than a subject.
Consider this example of a subject complement:

The driver seems tired.

modifies the noun "driver," which is the subject of the sentence.

 Sometimes, however, the noun will be the object, as

in the following example:

the verb "consider," but the adjective "tired" is still acting as its complement.

 The indirect object identifies to or for whom or

what the action of the verb is performed.

people or places or things.

The direct objects below are in boldface; the indirect objects are in italics.

The instructor gave his students A's.

Grandfather left Rosalita and Raoul all his money.

 Incidentally, the word me (and similar object-form

pronouns such as him, us, them) is not always an indirect object; it will also serve, sometimes, as a direct object. Bless me/her/us! Call me/him/them if you have questions.

 In English, nouns and their accompanying modifiers

(articles and adjectives) do not change form when they are used as objects or indirect objects, as they do in many other languages. "The radio is on the desk" and "I borrowed the radio" contain exactly the same word form used for quite different functions.

 This is not true of pronouns, however, which use

different forms for different functions.

pronoun cases.)

General Rule
An object usually comes after the verb, and it

generally refers to something that is affected by the action of the verb. If there is only one object=Direct Object E.gs That dog bit MY SISTER.
Zola scored A GOAL last night.

 One other characteristics of a sentence with an object

is that there is usually a corresponding passive sentence with roughly the same meaning but where the original object is now functioning as the subject a. That dog bit MY SISTER. b. MY SISTER was bitten by that dog
The passive counterpart is b

a. Zola scored A GOAL last night. b. A GOAL was scored by Zola last night The passive counterpart is b. If there is a noun phrase occurring after the verb, we can use the passive Test to see if it is functioning as an object A verb that takes an object is called a TRANSITIVE verb. Verbs like bite and score, which are followed by just one object, are called MONOTRANSITIVE

 In general, verbs which have to do with perceiving, judging, or

changing something can cause their direct objects to take an object complement:

Paint it black. The judge ruled her out of order. I saw the Prime Minister sleeping. In every case, you could reconstruct the last part of the sentence

into a sentence of its own using a subject complement: "it is black. "she is out of order," "the Prime Minister is sleeping."

 Direct Object + Object Complement An object complement renames or describes

the object. Like a subject complement, it can be a noun or an adjective. The reporters declared the election a windfall. DO OC

INDIRECT OBJECTS
The man bought HIS GIRLFRIEND A ROSE Ellen bought HER HUSBAND A GIFT Both the noun phrases are objects. The first one is

called INDIRECT OBJECT while the secondDIRECT OBJECT Verbs like give and buy take two objects and are called DITRANSITIVE

 A diagnostic test for an indirect object is that it can

be moved to the end of the sentence if we first insert a preposition(either to or for). We will call this the POSTPONEMENT TEST.
The man gave HIS GIRLFRIEND A ROSE The man gave A ROSE to HIS GIRLFRIEND

 Ellen bought HER HUSBAND A GIFT Ellen bought A GIFT for HER HUSBAND