Flashcards

Sentence Diagramming: Flashcard 10
An objective complement is a noun or an adjective (or the equivalent of a noun or an adjective, like a pronoun or a participle) that completes a verb and in some way either repeats (i.e., is identical with) or describes the direct object. The verb in a sentence with an objective complement is often a factitive verb; that is, the verb expresses an action that makes someone or something someone or something else. For example, verbs like elect, appoint, choose, render, name, call, entitle, color, dye, and the verb make itself (but not when it means "to create") are factitive verbs. Here are two sentences containing factitive verbs and objective complements: "They called their mascot Herbie" (the noun Herbie is an objective complement), "The shock of standing in front of the class has rendered the poor boy speechless" (the adjective speechless is an objective complement). Objective complements appear only in active sentences. To change a sentence with an objective complement into its corresponding passive sentence, one takes the direct object of the sentence and makes it the subject. The passive factitive verb acts as a linking verb, and the objective complement of the original sentence becomes a subjective complement (either a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective).* Examples: "Their mascot was called Herbie" (Herbie is a predicate nominative), "The poor boy has been rendered speechless by the shock of standing in front of the class" (speechless is a predicate adjective). Consider also these sentences (note that they have non-factitive verbs): "We found the book difficult," "I saw them leaving," "The weather forced him to stay at home," "She asked him to help with the groceries." Most authorities agree that the first two sentences contain objective complements; however, there is significant disagreement concerning the last two. I consider all underlined words above objective complements.** As you make your way through these flashcards, you may wish to refer to a section of my website that deals with terminology, www.german-latin-english.com/diagrammingterms.htm.
On the right is a diagram of the sentence "The people had elected her president, and she made them proud." The personal pronouns her and them are direct objects; the noun president and the adjective proud are objective complements. This is a compound sentence; its two independent clauses are connected by the coordinating conjunction and.		In diagramming a sentence containing an objective complement, place the direct object in its usual position on the base line, followed by the objective complement. A backslash separates the two words. If you prefer, you can use the traditional form, in which the objective complement precedes the direct object. With this option, a front slash separates the objective complement from the verb. Flashcard 11: possessives and appositives.
* This rule holds when the objective complement is a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective; it does not apply when the objective complement is an infinitive. More about infinitives later. More about this when we get to participles and infinitives. Return to flashcard list**
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