Complements in Clauses

Try This First

Compare these two sentences:

• “She called her friend.”
• “She called her friend brilliant.”

In both clauses, her friend is the object. But the second clause adds another element with a different job.

Try first: Is brilliant receiving the action, or is it describing the object?

That second question leads us to complements.

What a Complement Does

A complement does not receive the action the way an object does. Instead, it identifies, renames, or describes the subject or object.

This is why complements are often confused with objects. Both can appear after the verb, but they do different structural work.

Subject Complement

A subject complement comes after a linking verb and gives information about the subject.

• “Neha is a doctor.”
• “The sky became dark.”
• “The soup tastes delicious.”

In each case, the complement points back to the subject.

Common Linking Verbs

Subject complements often follow verbs such as:

• be
• become
• seem
• appear
• feel
• taste
• look
• remain
• turn

A useful beginner test is this: does the word after the verb tell me something about the subject itself?

Object Complement

An object complement gives information about the object.

• “They elected him captain.”
• “The news made her anxious.”
• “We painted the wall blue.”

Here the object comes first, and the complement tells us what that object became or how it is characterized.

Object or Complement?

This is the real difficulty.

Pair 1

• “She called her friend.” → object only
• “She called her friend brilliant.” → object + complement

Pair 2

• “He hit the door.” → object
• “He became angry.” → complement

Pair 3

• “They made Rahul monitor.” → object + complement
• “They met Rahul yesterday.” → object + adverbial

A more reliable test

Ask these questions in order:

1. Does the element receive the action? → probably object
2. Does it rename or describe the subject/object? → probably complement
3. Does it show a result or role after the action? → often object complement

A quick test helps, but real understanding comes from comparing nearby patterns.

Hindi Comparison

Hindi often makes the meaning obvious, but English still requires you to see the function clearly.

• “वह डॉक्टर है।” → “He is a doctor.”
  Here a doctor identifies the subject.

• “उन्होंने उसे कप्तान चुना।” → “They elected him captain.”
  Here captain does not receive the action; it tells us what him became.

That is why labeling by meaning alone is not enough. You must ask what relation the later element has to the subject or object.

Practice

Decide the role of the bold part

1. “The room looks clean.”
2. “They made Rahul monitor.”
3. “My grandmother is very kind.”
4. “The joke made us happy.”
5. “She met her teacher yesterday.”

Compare the pair

Explain the difference between these two:

• “She found the box.”
• “She found the box empty.”

Repair the learner error

Complete or correct these clauses:

1. “They made him…”
2. “She is…”
3. “We painted the gate…”

Before You Move On

Before moving on, make sure you can:

• tell the difference between receiving an action and being described
• recognize subject complements after linking verbs
• recognize object complements after verbs such as make, elect, call, paint, find

Key Takeaways

1. Complements identify or describe; objects receive the action.
2. Subject complements point back to the subject.
3. Object complements point back to the object.
4. The safest way to learn complements is by comparing them with nearby object patterns.

Next Step

Next we turn to Adverbials, especially the difference between adverbials that add detail and adverbials that help complete the clause pattern.