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Donna became quickly irritated.

I'm confused about the position of "irritated". Is that considered as a direct object as it answered the verb "became"?

I read it is a complement, why? Which type?

1 Answer 1

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"become" is a linking verb, so "irritated" is indeed its subject complement. It can't be an object, as it is not a noun.

You can see more examples here: https://www.chompchomp.com/terms/subjectcomplement.htm

BTW, it should be "considered to be a direct object", not "considered as a direct object".

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  • I would be inclined to say or write 'Donna quickly became irritated'. Jan 1, 2020 at 22:34
  • The slight potential difference in meaning between the sentence in the Question and @MichaelHarvey's preferred version might be illustrated by adding a few words at the beginning: "After contracting gout Donna became quickly irritated." So Donna's temper was habitually short. If what you mean is that on one occasion she became irritated quickly then the second version would be better, as he suggests.
    – JeremyC
    Jan 1, 2020 at 22:52

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