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    Syntax w9 Types of Complements

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    Syntax w9 Types of Complements

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    Syntax

    9. Types of Complements / Types of Verbs


    So far we have discussed complements by considering the most typical (most frequent) examples, that
    is, objects of transitive verbs. For instance, a house can be an object of verbs like buy or build. Apart from
    these, there are complements to the other parts of a sentence; that is, to the subject (subject
    complement) and to the object:

    (1) a. The dog seems friendly. (subject complement)


    b. He felt a complete idiot.
    c. The child is still in bed.
    (2) a. They sucked his bank account dry. (object complement)
    b. They elected him president.
    c. The general licked the soldiers into shape.

    Note that complements include adjective phrases (a), noun phrases (b) or prepositional phrases (c).

    Exercise 1
    Identify the complements in the following examples.

    The next morning Benjamin shook me awake.


    The soldier kicked the door open.
    It gets light at 5:30.
    This music is driving me insane.
    They played the same song all night long.
    The same song played all night long.

    Exercise 2
    Think of examples of the following kinds of verbs.

    Table 1. Kinds of verbs


    TRANSITIVE – ‘[trans]’: subject – V – direct object
    (S) (dO)
    INTRANSITIVE – ‘[intrans]’: subject – V
    (S)
    DITRANSITIVE – ‘[ditrans]’: subject – V – indirect object – direct object
    (S) (iO) (dO)
    Or subject – V – direct object – indirect object
    (S) (dO) (iO)
    INTENSIVE – ‘[intens]’: subject – V – subject-predicative (subject complement)
    (S) (sP)
    COMPLEX – ‘[complex]’: subject – V – dir. obj. – object-predicative (object complement)
    (S) (dO) (oP)
    PREPOSITIONAL – ‘[prep]’: subject – V – prepositional complement
    (S) (PC) (from Burton-Roberts 2011: 79)

    1
    KAJ/SYN1Q & KAJ/KSY1Q

    You will sometimes find different terms used by different authors. For example, Veselovská (2017:
    20) refers to verbs like seem or appear as linking verbs, while Burton-Roberts (2011: 74) calls them
    intensive verbs. Verbs like buy or read are monotransitive in Veselovská (2017: 20) or just
    transitive in most other authors.

    Exercise 3
    Veselovská (2017: 90) classifies the verb advise as ditransitive:
    I advised Jane to see the doctor. V, [-- NPi to-INF]
    Is the verb advise like tell or promise?
    Jane promised [her son] [a puppy]. Jane promised [her son] [to take him to Disneyland].
    Martha told [us] [a joke]. Martha told [us] [to leave].
    But what is one problem with verbs like advise, dare, instruct, or force?

    Exercise 4
    The following sentence is ambiguous. Explain the ambiguity and decide which two types from Table 1
    are represented by the verb find in this sentence.
    Jake found her a terrific companion.

    Exercise 5
    Decide whether the PP in these sentences is part of the complementation of a ditransitive verb or not.
    a. Vincent saved a chair for Martha. b. Vincent saved money for a car.
    a. Hanna baked a cake for the party. b. Hanna baked a cake for her friends.
    Now decide which of the following are intensive verbs.
    a. The children grew bored. b. Grandpa grew trees.
    a. She turned another page. b. She turned red.
    a. This dress becomes you. b. A girl becomes a woman.
    a. The teacher sounded alarmed. b. The teacher sounded the alarm.
    a. The dog smelled my feet. b. The cake smelled strange.

    Exercise 6
    Read these definitions. Decide whether complex verbs involve intensive or extensive structures.
    extensive (adj.) A term used to refer to structures where there is no close semantic relationship
    between elements of structure, such as subject and object (e.g. he stroked the dog) or direct and
    indirect object (e.g. he gave me a letter).
    intensive (adj.) A term used to refer to structures where there is a close semantic identity between
    elements of structure, such as between subject and complement (e.g. she is a dentist), between
    object and complement (e.g. they called him Fred) or in apposition (e.g. John the butcher . . . ).
    The verbs involved in intensive constructions are called intensive verbs or ‘linking verbs’.
    (Crystal 2008: 248)

    References
    Burton-Roberts, Noel. 2011. Analysing Sentences. An Introduction to English Syntax (3rd Edition). London:
    Routledge.
    Crystal, David. 2008. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell.
    Veselovská, Ludmila. 2017. English Syntax. Olomouc: Palacký University Olomouc.

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