Questions tagged [predicative-complements]
The predicative-complements tag has no summary.
74 questions
6
votes
5
answers
226
views
How can we decide which noun complement should be used in uncountable form and which shouldn't?
Look at these sentences:
They were held hostage.
They were held captive.
Here, are "hostage" and "captive" working as adjectives?
If they are, then why can't we say "A ...
0
votes
0
answers
67
views
Why don’t subjects and subject complements have to be of the same grammatical number in English (both singular or both plural)? [duplicate]
See these sentences, both with the same plural subject but with subject complements that differ in grammatical number from one sentence to the next:
Historians are a great asset to the field of ...
8
votes
3
answers
543
views
What would you call a verb subject as an infinitive complement?
I'm currently trying my hand at French grammar, you see, which would use different prepositions to translate the same predicative adjective constructions in English below.
The bag is too difficult to ...
0
votes
1
answer
122
views
Why ‘are’ not ‘is’ in “a paradigm are bulk excitations”? [duplicate]
This is a sentence in the paper “Fractional angular momentum and anyon statistics of impurities in Laughlin liquids”, by Tobias Graß, Bruno Juliá-Díaz, Niccolò Baldelli, Utso Bhattacharya, and Maciej ...
- 117
0
votes
2
answers
69
views
The difference between an adjective and a noun [closed]
He is the richest.
Is the 'richest' functioning as a noun or not?
- 403
-1
votes
1
answer
87
views
"Similar is the case with visits to galleries." — Is "similar" an adjective here or a fused modifier-head noun phrase? [duplicate]
Could you help me please to parse the word "similar" when it stands at the beginning of sentences and has no head-noun after itself?
google.com/search:
... in the theatre audience one does ...
- 1,145
0
votes
2
answers
117
views
"The tired fireman found the building ablaze", is "ablaze" predicative adjective at there? [duplicate]
I have encountered a question which asks which sentence doesn't include a predicative adjective and according to the question this sentence includes a predicative adjective,
The tired fireman found ...
- 1
1
vote
0
answers
156
views
Is it true that every argument is a complement but not every complement is an argument?
The textbook "The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language", page 226:
Argumenthood
In the simplest cases the propositional meaning of a clause (ignoring the component contributed by the ...
- 1,145
2
votes
1
answer
309
views
Can a catenative complement be a predicative complement?
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 251) has this section in Chapter 4 The clause: complements:
5 Predicatives and related elementsA predicative complement is oriented towards a ...
- 7,798
-2
votes
1
answer
81
views
Is "remained considered guilty" grammatical?
I'm currently reading Huddleston and Pullum (2002). In section 1.3 (p. 79), they note that the following sentence is ungrammatical:
(1) The boss seemed considered guilty of bias.
I agree that this is ...
- 20.9k
0
votes
0
answers
142
views
Should I use "is'' or "are'' in the sentence, "The next canonical choice IS the so-called slip boundary conditions...''? [duplicate]
Should I use "is" or "are" in this sentence?
The next canonical choice [is/are] the so-called slip boundary conditions...
I've struggled to find an answer for this question ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
119
views
What’s the meaning of ‘stand hacking‘? [duplicate]
I'm trying to understand this sentence:
For hours I stood hacking at the icy ground.
Which is in this excerpt of Viktor Frankl’s 1947 book, Man's Search for Meaning:
Another time we were at work in ...
3
votes
1
answer
427
views
Is 'there' a locative complement in this example?
[1] He was the only one there.
In this sentence, 'the only one there' is an example of a predicative complement (subject complement), a predicative nominal. However, inside this noun phrase, we have ...
- 415
0
votes
0
answers
103
views
Are Complements of Objects Considered 'Predicative' and 'Locative'?
Subjects can take two types of complements: predicative (adjectives and nominals) and locative. Is this the same for objects?
Examples:
He painted the town red.
I kept the money out of sight.
...
- 415
0
votes
0
answers
24
views
Is there a conceptual influence on plurality according to definable/indefinable number? [duplicate]
I found that my instinct was to say 'All I can see is the cat's whiskers' but my instinct was also to say 'All I can see are the cat's eyes'.
After some thought, either this is just a personal quirk ...
- 25.2k
0
votes
2
answers
98
views
“The difficulty is we need” vs. “The difficulty is ᴛʜᴀᴛ we need”
Is there a right or wrong answer in the following construction? Am
I missing a more elegant way to say this?
The main difficulty in the hiring process is we need a fluent
French speaker that also ...
- 101
2
votes
2
answers
660
views
predicative complement vs predicative adjunct
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 250) has this passage:
Here, Od is Direct Object, and Oi is Indirect Object.
It seems that CGEL is saying that almost raw in [i-ii] and fiendishly ...
- 7,798
0
votes
1
answer
49
views
Predicative use of 'ongoing'
As a Spanish employee of a German multinational company, I have always cringed at my German colleagues' tendency to give 'ongoing' a predicative use, e.g. 'The meeting is ongoing'. I was sure that ...
- 540
0
votes
0
answers
255
views
Hyphenation of compound adjective as object complement
Consider these three cases:
Here is the up-to-date information.
Mark this information up-to-date.
This information is up to date.
Those are spelled the ways that feel correct to me, but I'm not ...
- 480
-1
votes
1
answer
95
views
Are there hidden prepositions in these sentences? [duplicate]
My shoes are [of] the wrong color.
This new wallpaper is [of] an odd pattern.
At first, one could say these are noun phrases functioning as predicate nominatives; however, the awkwardness in meaning ...
- 37
0
votes
1
answer
68
views
Objective complement?
When diagramming "You heard me sing," would you form a clause as the direct object, with me as the subject of the verb sing (even though me is an objective pronoun)? Or, would you think of ...
- 1
1
vote
4
answers
1k
views
Can we ever use "that" and "who" right next to each other?
I’ve learned that we can use that to provide more information for
abstract nouns, such as problem, belief, etc. I don’t quite understand
what that means, though, so let me try it out.
For example, ...
- 15
1
vote
0
answers
103
views
What is the nature of That-complementizer here?
It was in 1945 that World World 2 ended.
I think that is a complementizer, but I'm not sure of the nature of this complement. By nature I mean the part of speech of the complement clause and to what ...
- 31
-1
votes
2
answers
182
views
Linking verb vs unchanged adverb
Page 21 of Garner's fourth edition reads
One must analyze the sentence rather than memorize a list of common
linking verbs. Often unexpected candidates serve as linking
verbs—e.g.:
• “The rule sweeps ...
- 4,151
0
votes
2
answers
211
views
Complement of the object?
I'm reading Verbs of Incomplete Prediction in my grammar. It says that certain Transitive verbs take, beside an object, a complement to complete their predication. I have understood almost everything ...
0
votes
0
answers
108
views
Part of speech of "likely"
It is likely to rain.
Here likely is a predicate adjective with to rain as the complement (correct me if I'm wrong).
Who took the cookie? It was likely Bob.
Is likely also a predicate adjective ...
- 31
0
votes
1
answer
457
views
only linking verbs with predicate adjectives and nominatives?
Can only linking verbs have predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives as complements?
If action verbs can have predicates as well then it would be really helpful to me if you could please share ...
- 3
0
votes
0
answers
107
views
How to determine if a complement is a predicative complement or a locative complement?
(1) She is out and will be back in soon.
(2) She is out and will be conscious soon.
Is out a locative complement in (1) but a predicative complement in (2)?
If so, is the distinction between the two ...
- 7,798
4
votes
2
answers
845
views
Form of predicative complement
I have two questions about predicative complements:
1) I've been scouring CaGEL* in pursuit of some kind of survey of forms functioning as subject predicative complement, but have failed miserably; I'...
- 594
0
votes
1
answer
107
views
Structure after All/What with predicative complement
Possibly didn’t make the subject clear enough. I don’t know if that can be changed?
To me, structures of this type should follow what you normally use after the main verb.
For instance:
All I want ...
- 51
1
vote
1
answer
296
views
Can a plural subject be followed by a complement beginning “a…”?
Can anyone kindly explain why this sentence is correct?
Complex musical numbers are a defining characteristic of most Italian
films.
- 77
0
votes
0
answers
70
views
my bank just sent a statement titled: Banking Done Different [duplicate]
Is it ever correct to write Banking Done Different? I am surprised to find this printed at the top of my savings account statement
2
votes
1
answer
100
views
Hear it used this way? - Complement or Modifier
While writing the following sentence I was curious whether the sentence was correct. But after checking COCA, I came to now that similar expressions are in use. The sentence I wrote is:
Have you ...
- 596
1
vote
0
answers
101
views
Function of PPs with predicative complements
According to CaGEL* (e.g. p.636 ff), prepositions can take predicative complements, as in
[1] She worked as a waitress
[2] He passed for dead
[3] I took you for granted
[4] They left him for ...
- 594
0
votes
3
answers
496
views
What exactly falls under the label of "complement"?
There seems to be a lot of contradicting beliefs out there regarding complements and what they cover -- or maybe I am just confusing myself. However, I cannot seem to find an answer that I understand.
...
- 418
3
votes
1
answer
190
views
Correct or not: noun and adjective being predicative together
I'm thinking about such a sentence:
He is a lawyer, arrogant and smart.
or
He is an idiot, arrogant and short-sighted.
Please note that here I just want to list the noun and the adjectives ...
- 43
4
votes
1
answer
136
views
Do metaphorical agents follow special rules?
While I can easily parse this sentence, something feels grammatically incorrect and I can't figure out what rule would make it right or wrong.
"Fatigue from traveling had him in bed by midnight."
I'...
0
votes
1
answer
60
views
They are not merely <inconveniences/an inconvenience>, they are <dangers/a danger> to health
This Guardian article titled "William Wordsworth review – inspiration and smoking chimneys" has this passage:
It is 14 years since the publication of Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth’s
income from ...
- 7,798
2
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Which verb do I use in: “All you need in life is/are coffee and good grammar”? [duplicate]
Should I use 'is' or 'are' in the sentence below?
All you need in life is/are coffee and good grammar.
This question is different from Agreement in "[Singular Noun] Is/Are [Plural Noun]"? ...
1
vote
2
answers
500
views
"I'm afraid she's gone too far this time" - Relative Clauses
I am going to have to explain all the parts of this sentence to a class, but I am having a little trouble identifying all the parts. The sentence is:
I'm afraid she's gone too far this time.
This ...
- 61
4
votes
1
answer
679
views
He laid bare his soul
Generally, a predicative complement (PC) comes after the predicand:
(1) He laid his soul bare.
Here, 'bare' is the PC, and 'his soul' the predicand.
But when the predicand, genearlly a noun phrase,...
- 7,798
0
votes
1
answer
9k
views
the majority of whom are male or males
Should I use singular or plural form of male here? I think it should be males. Am I correct?
Social and cultural traditions often make it difficult for aid workers, the majority of whom are [male/...
- 15
1
vote
3
answers
164
views
“starting steep and leveling off horizontal” – adjective or adverb
Are steep and horizontal correctly written as adjectives or should they be adverbs in the following sentence?
Scaling around the trunk leads to a huge branch that expands out the other side ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
5k
views
Six feet/foot five: Does adding "inches" affect the grammatical form of "foot"?
Is it possible to say "six feet five" (inches are left out here)?
Or is "six foot five" the only correct variant? Does incluing "inches" affect the grammatical form of "foot"?
- 215
0
votes
1
answer
162
views
subject verb agreement: "the downside are the messages" [duplicate]
Which is the correct one:
the big downside is the imperfect messages the user gets.
the big downside are the imperfect messages the user gets.
I am almost sure the second one is correct with "the ...
- 123
1
vote
1
answer
480
views
What is the grammar structure? "I am not going to stand here watching you do it"?
Is this sentence correct?
I am not going to stand here watching you do it.
I saw it in an article. If it is - and I think it is - why is "watching" a gerund? What is the grammar structure? Is it a ...
user197581
2
votes
2
answers
750
views
The main ingredient is blueberries or the main ingredient is blueberry?
Which sentence is grammatically accurate or they both acceptable? "The main ingredient is blueberries" sounds better to me. "The main ingredient" is indicative of one type of ingredient, so does that ...
- 21
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
Has the use of the subject pronoun after the verb "to be" become archaic?
"Is that your wretched husband on the phone again, my love?"
"Yes, of course it's him!"
Well, we all might think the use of "him" instead of "he" is wrong, but following "is" with "he" in ...
- 39
3
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What specifically is the difference between a 'content clause' and a 'complement clause'?
Here a complement clause is defined as:
a notional sentence or predication that is an argument of a predicate
Here a content clause is defined as:
a subordinate clause that provides content implied,...
user180089
4
votes
3
answers
453
views
Does "turned a bright blue" contain a predicate nominative or predicate adjective?
The liquid in the bowl turned a bright blue.
Please tell me if blue is a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective in this sentence and please explain why.
- 41