Questions tagged [complements]
For questions about expressions needed to complete the meaning of other expressions. Related to tags subject-complement and object-complement.
147
questions
0
votes
1answer
22 views
Smell bright, taste bright
Smell bright and taste bright is grammatically correct, but why are they not used but look bright is used?
0
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0answers
23 views
Complement vs adjunct
For this sentence:
I have trouble solving the problem.
Is solving the problem a complement or an adjunct?
What if the sentence is I have trouble in solving the problem ? Is in solving the problem an ...
0
votes
2answers
66 views
What is ‘intelligent’ complementing in the beginning of this sentence?
I have the following sentence and diagram:
To sound intelligent on political issues was Wayne’s goal.
The infinitive phrase is the subject of the sentence. What is intelligent complementing exactly, ...
1
vote
0answers
15 views
be careful that-clause and be careful wh-clause
I'll be more careful what I say in the future.
We were very careful that he didn't find out.
The that-clause in sentence 2 is a complement of the adjective careful. The wh-clause in sentence 1 seems ...
0
votes
0answers
24 views
“Adjective Complements” in major English grammar books?
Are there any major English grammar books (like CGEL, PEU, etc.) that list "adjective complements" as one of main constituents of a predicate (or a sentence pattern)?
https://www....
1
vote
1answer
27 views
When is a complement of verb gerund?
I am confused about when a complement of a verb is a gerund.
For instance
He is going to school.
here "going" is the complement of verb "is" yet not a gerund
He is playing for ...
0
votes
1answer
27 views
What's the difference between post attributive and complement？
After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of ...
0
votes
1answer
25 views
{past tense verb} [optional adverb] is… - what is this grammar?
I came across with this sentence
Located on the Trusted Server is a private key named Certificate Authority (CA)
I guess it's another way to say something like: "The thing that is located on ...
0
votes
1answer
55 views
Adjective or noun?
In the sentence "He became captain of the team", 'captain' (noun) is the subject complement of 'became' and 'of the team' (a PP) is the object complement of 'captain'. Since complements ...
-1
votes
1answer
27 views
Kick someone to somewhere
Is it correct to say like that meaning to send someone there?
Kick someone to hell
0
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0answers
17 views
Use to or Used to exercises , help me complete the sentence
When we were children, we ____________________ collect stamps.
Mr. Wood ______________ read at leat four hours a day when he was young.
John __________________ walk to school in the ...
0
votes
1answer
22 views
“Donna became quickly irritated”
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?
0
votes
2answers
2k views
“Starting” or “to start?”
What is the difference between them and when I should use -ing form and when -to+infinitive in similar cases?
"I could see her eyes starting to tear up."
or
"I could see her eyes to ...
0
votes
0answers
507 views
Specifier, adjunct, or complement? how to know? syntax
How can I know if an embedded clause is a Specifier, an adjunct, or a complement?
For example, in a sentence like:
One notion that nobody has mentioned yet was proposed during the conference.
Can ...
0
votes
1answer
29 views
Valency of being situated
Being situated seems to need some kind of complement. According to Cambridge Dictionary, it may be used in the following ways:
with in/on/near/...
with an adverb
with a to-infinitive
However, it ...
0
votes
2answers
138 views
to infinitive vs happen + to infinitive difference
Is there any difference between the following sentences, respectively?
“It so happens that today is my birthday.” -- Today is my birthday.
“I happen to have exactly what you need.” -- I have ...
0
votes
0answers
25 views
Grammatical function of “all” in “You ladies all have to understand its importance.”
Does all within:
You ladies all have to understand its importance.
play the role of an adverb?
3
votes
3answers
117 views
What is the grammatical function of the bold phrase in the sentence?
Some of the world's oldest preserved art is the cave art of Europe,
most of it in Spain and France.
The above sentence is from IELTS test reading passage, and it is oral English. I want to make ...
0
votes
1answer
441 views
How to distinguish the attribute & complement in a sentence?
As an example:
In some cultures, people regard men as breadwinners.
my textbook says: ''as breadwinners'' is the complement to ''regard'', but I think it is the attribute to ''men''. Which one is ...
4
votes
2answers
249 views
Marking the functions of a sentence: 'She may like it'
I am reading Cambridge Grammar of English Language (CaGEL) all over again, though not cover to cover.
One page no. 215, I came across
The major functions in the structure of the clause are the ...
0
votes
1answer
57 views
complement omission after “than”
The average age is higher than it has been in recorded history.
Can you tell me why "than it has been" doesn't have a complement in the sentence above?
3
votes
4answers
161 views
How to parse this sentence “I heard him drop his keys.”
"I heard him drop his keys"
I = subject
heard = verb
"him drop his keys." = direct object.
But how can I understand 'drop his keys'?
"I heard him singing in the shower."
Here, "singing in the ...
0
votes
1answer
146 views
Subject-dependent inversion
In front of him opens a magnificent view on mountains.
Is such a subject-dependent inversion possible? Or should I use
there opens a magnificent view on mountains in front of him?
0
votes
1answer
89 views
relative clause or object complement
Note that because every 2-element subset chosen from a set of 5 elements corresponds to a unique 3-element subset consisting of the elements not chosen.
My questions concern whether consisting of the ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
“That would be more than enough”. Is 'more' the head of the complement or 'enough'?
It has over 100,000 words and meanings. You'd think that would be
more than enough for most of us but meanings change and new words are being created all the time.
Might I trouble you to tell me ...
4
votes
3answers
685 views
two subject complements in passive form?
Hi I am English learner.
Recently, I have a question.
There is a sentence:
He was selected chairman.
On this passive form, I think the word selected is a subject complement.
Therefore, He is ...
0
votes
2answers
36 views
Sentence structure , object and complement
He offered to lend the book to the student.
Subject: He
Verb: offered
I don't know what the object should be, is it "to lend the book"? but then the object itself would be comprised of a verb and ...
2
votes
1answer
118 views
Intransitive verb + one's way construction
The following seems to be transitive verb + one's way constructions.
She pushed her way through the crowd.
She cut her way through the jungle.
I parse that as this: S+V+O+O.C
Yet, the ...
0
votes
1answer
1k views
Nominal to-infinitive clause as complement of an adjective
Source: "A Cmmunicative Grammar of English" by Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik (p.328-329)
As you can see, the book says:
● Nominal to-fininitive clause as subject:
To say there is no ...
3
votes
1answer
222 views
Is it distransitive or complex transitive as in “She told her cat to leave”?
She told her cat to leave.
Here are two kinds of parsing.
1.Distransitive + indirect object and direct object
She (S) + told (V) her cat (I.O) to leave (D.O)
2.Complex transitive + direct ...
1
vote
1answer
115 views
Complements: -ing form or infinitives
Not sure if this was already discussed, but I am confused about the use of -ing form/infinitives as complements. I've found in several threads in Stack Exchange that the verb "to be" has to be ...
0
votes
2answers
56 views
When is inversion between the subject and the object or the subject and the complement possible?
When is inversion between the subject and the object or the subject and the complement possible?
For instance:
I stood at the window watching the kids play. <---> At the window watching the ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Why is “difference” used following “is”?
Could anyone please explains to me when to use "different" and when to use "difference"?
I searched the web about that and I have seen that difference is a noun and different is an adjective and for ...
1
vote
2answers
243 views
Should I use “is” or “has” here?
I am confused about how to use "is" or "has" in one way or the other.
Is it correct to say " he is gone to the back gate "
or it should be "he has gone to the back gate"
because I think "gone is a ...
0
votes
3answers
73 views
“A Thai youth soccer team were found alive Monday” Why is an adjective “alive” following a verb “found”? or “found alive” is an idiom?
I have read this sentence in a newspaper of USA Today, "Thai soccer team found alive after 10 days lost in caves":
A Thai youth soccer team and its coach were found alive Monday in a vast, flooded ...
0
votes
2answers
99 views
These terms are important for me to work here happily
Can I use infinitive clauses in that way?
1-) These terms are important for me to work here happily.
2-) These terms are important to work here happily.(If it is obvious that I am talking ...
0
votes
2answers
69 views
Do we have to use adjective complements just after adjectives?
Examples:
I had already been very sorry but with your behaviour, I was extremely disappointed.
(Instead of "but I was extremely disappointed with your behaviour")
I was good at software ...
0
votes
0answers
98 views
I prevented you from going there
I prevented you from going there.
What is the function of "from going there" ?
I think that it is an adverbial prepositional phrase because I have studied object complements and learned that ...
2
votes
2answers
446 views
Why can we say “Enough money to do something” but not “a ready machine to do something”?
We can say:
I have enough money to go to Italy.
Which means:
I have money which is enough to go to Italy
But why does the following sentence not work?
I have a ready machine to run for 10 ...
0
votes
1answer
420 views
The complements of linking verbs
We know that the complements of action verbs can be neither an adjective nor a prepositional phrase, but, it seems that that situation changes for linking verbs.
He was upstairs.
"Upstairs" ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
How scared are you of snakes?
Do you think that it is grammatically correct to ask questions by leaving adjective complements alone?
How happy are you about the exam results?
How disappointed were you with my last ...
1
vote
1answer
43 views
Directly asking questions about adjective complements
Can we ask some questions about adjective complements?
I was disappointed with your behaviour.(1)
Can we ask its question like
With what were you disappointed? (2)
or
What were you ...
-2
votes
1answer
36 views
I want to be a good person to invite to a party
Can we say this sentence is grammatically correct English?
I want to be a good person to invite to a party.
The intended meaning is:
I want to be a person who is good to invite to a party.
...
2
votes
2answers
71 views
Is “The way we are learning English is not good” a clause?
Can I call the following a clause?
The way we are learning English is not good.
Here, what kind of clause is "The way we are learning English"
I think it's a noun clause because it sits before ...
2
votes
2answers
75 views
the icing on the cake: Is 'on the cake' an adjunct or complement?
It's the icing on the cake.
Here, is on the cake an adjunct or a complement of the noun icing?
2
votes
2answers
223 views
The first thing I can see in this picture ‘are’ 2 people
The first thing I can see in this picture are 2 people
I happened to see this sentence, and it says using 'is' instead of 'are' is wrong.
As I looked up some grammar stuff, you can invert the ...
2
votes
3answers
447 views
Is this to-infinitive clause an adjunct or a complement?
He'll keep his pledge to donate 10,000 mosquito nets to charity to help fight Malaria in Africa.
In this sentence, is the to-infinitive in bold a complement or an adjunct of purpose?
Perhaps more ...
1
vote
2answers
281 views
SPEND [a period of time] ENGAGED/ENGAGING in something
I came across the following sentence in the book - ORIGIN - written by Dan Brown
Since 1893, hundreds of spiritual leaders from nearly thirty world religions had gathered in a different location ...
1
vote
3answers
778 views
'X makes the device operate' or 'X makes the device operates'
If I use the word "make" before a verb, shall I add "s" to the verb coming after it?
The mechanism makes the device operates and retries.
Or
The mechanism makes the device ...
0
votes
2answers
3k views
“Did I hear that correctly?” or “Did I hear that correct?” Which one is correct?
This is a conversation in the film "A Wish for Christmas", you can download its subtitle on the internet
The boss is talking on the phone:
Boss: Frankly, the way things are going, Christmas is ...
