Complements: Objective Complements

The meaning of some sentences is complete when they contain no more than a subject and a verb with perhaps some modifiers, as in I laughed or I laughed wholeheartedly. In other sentences, however, the verbs need more than modifiers to complete the meaning of the sentences, as in: "The storm definitely ruined..." or "The marathon runners are..." These sentences require complements such as "crop" and "exhausted" to finish the meaning of the verbs: "The storm definitely ruined the crops." and "The marathon runners are exhausted." A complement is a word or group of words that completes the meaning of the predicate of the sentence. Five different kinds of complements can be found in English sentences: direct objects, indirect objects, objective complements, predicate nominatives, and predicate adjectives. The last two are often grouped together and called subject complements. This section will explain how object complements (OC) work to complete the meaning of sentences. OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS An objective complement completes the meaning of the direct object in a sentence. It occurs therefore, only in sentences that already contain a direct object. An objective complement is an adjective or noun that appears with a direct object and describes or renames it. Objective Complements are found only after such verbs as appoint, call, consider, elect, label, make, name, or think. Examples: > We appointed Toby secretary. > I consider her the best candidate for the job. As the examples illustrate, the objective complements rename or describe the direct objects. To determine whether a word is an objective complement, say the verb and direct object, and then ask What? Example: > The professor called the student brilliant. (Called the student what? Answer: brilliant) An Objective Complement can also be compound. Example: > The professor called the student brilliant and witty.

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