Unit 5: Function Labels: 5.7 Object and Complement

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The root plere means "to fill", the prefix COM- means "with" and -MENT is a noun suffix. A complement is thus something which fills or completes another thing. It is used in this way in expressions such as "a ship's complement", meaning the number of people required to operate a ship.

In grammar, C is a descriptive phrase which follows an intransitive verb, often be or become, and gives us additional information, usually about S. Because it is closely associated with the subject, it is sometimes referred to as intensive, while an object is described as extensive. In form C's are NP's or AjP's.

The P's here would be semantically incomplete without their complements. Another verb of this type is seem. In fact the range of verbs which take complements is quite small. Most of them refer to physical or emotional states, e.g. feel, look, smell, sound, taste, appear, remain, grow.

We can use a transformation test to distinguish O and C. Clauses with O can be transformed into PASSIVE structures, while clauses with C cannot. Compare:

We cannot really assign a label to the first constituent in (12c) since it performs no recognisable role in the clause.

Verbs which are both transitive and intransitive can have either O or C.

Think about the labels for this sentence:

13c. [ (They) (looked) (ridiculous) ]

5.7.1. Object complement

Occasionally C is attached not to the subject but to the object of the clause.

In (14a) C clearly describes S and is labelled Cs. In (14c) C equally clearly describes O and is labelled Co. In practice it is only necessary to use these labels if there are two complements in the clause. Where there is a Co, it always follows O.