Complements Direct and Indirect Objects

A. A complement is a word or a group of words that completes the meaning of the verb All arrived. Listen! Matt won the contest. I gave him the prize. He felt very proud. *Complements can be nouns, pronouns, or adjectives.

Direct Objects Must follow an action verb. Answers the question what or whom.. Mother bought a new bed for kitty.

1. Direct objects are nouns, pronouns, or word groups that… Tell who or what receive the action of the verb Or shows the result of the action To find a Direct Object… 1.Find the subject & the verb 2.Then ask “whom?” or “what?”

Direct object examples The dog chased the ball. The dog chased Cari and Ashley through the park. Did you play softball and basketball? The flood destroyed whatever was in its way.

Direct objects must follow an action verb. will answer what or whom after the action verb. will be a noun or pronoun.

Direct 0bjects Rachel boughta cat. Rachel bought what? cat Rachel bought cat Bought what?

2. Indirect Objects are nouns, pronouns, or word groups that… Precedes a direct object (cannot exist without a D.O.!) Tells “to whom” or “for whom” or “to what” the action of the verb is done. To find the I.O.— 1.Find the subject and the verb 2.Find the Direct object 3.Then ask the questions: “to whom or for whom” or “to what or for what”

an indirect object. An action verb may also have There must be a direct object answering what or whom. The indirect object will answer to or for whom or what.

Indirect Objects  will always follow an action verb.  will always have a direct object.  will come before the direct object.  will come after the action verb.  will answer to or for whom or what.

Indirect Object Examples Mrs. Fedigan showed our class the copy of the report. The man fed his dogs some food. The principal gave her the prize. Megan handed the ball and bat over to her coach.

Rachel Bought Tamaraa cat. Rachel bought what? cat For whom? Rachel bought cat Tamara

Indirect Objects  Must have a direct object in the sentence.  Will occur after the action verb.  Will occur before the direct object.  Will answer the question to or for whom or what.

Diagramming direct and indirect objects Ross got a treat for Meow-Meow. Ross got treat Ross got Meow-Meow a treat. Ross got treat for whom? Meow-Meow

3. Objective Complement A noun or adjective that follows the direct object and identifies or describes it

Objective Complement Examples The class elected Marcus vice-president. They considered the prize money theirs. Years of hard work made her successful.

More examples… HINT: **only a few verbs take an objective complement: consider and make (and verbs that can be replaced by consider or make-appoint, call, choose, elect, keep, name, cut, paint, & sweep) Many historians call Shakespeare the greatest dramatist of all time. The flood swept the valley clean. Children, keep it quiet in here.

Diagramming objective complements A fossil discovery makes people happy. Discovery makes people happy A fossil

NOTE!!! Direct objects Indirect objects Objective complements MUST HAVE AN ACTION VERB IN THE SENTENCE!!

Practice 1. Beowulf killed Grendel. 2. Grendel ate fifteen men. 3. Beowulf gave Hrothgar Grendel’s arm. 4. Grendel and his mother caused Hrothgar and his men great pain. 5. The Geats named Beowulf king.

Practice 1. The officials gave Hester the scarlet letter. 2. Hester embellished the scarlet letter. 3. Dimmesdale considered his sin unspeakable yet obvious. 4. The townspeople and clergymen gave both Hester and Pearl grief then hope.

NOTE!!!! Eliminate all prepositional phrases before you try to locate the subject, verb, and any complements!!

More on Direct Objects The Tongue Untied Quiz 1 The Tongue Untied Quiz 2 Direct Object Sentence Diagraming Compound direct objects Indirect object Compound indirect objects Direct and Indirect Objects

4. Subject Complements Is a word (or words) following a linking verb that identify or describe the subject of a sentence.

2 kinds of Subject Complements 1. Predicate Nominatives (Name) a. A word or words in the predicate that name or identify the subject of the sentence. a. I am an English teacher. b. Is this oatmeal the type of cereal that you wanted? c. Our chief resources are coal and oil.

2 kinds of Subject Complements 2. Predicate Adjectives a. An adjective that is in the predicate and describes the subject The road is wet and slippery. He is scared because the lights went out today. All the students were excited!

NOTE!! Subject complements are only in sentences with LINKING VERBS!!