Example: (Direct Object) Give Your Tickets to the Person at That Window

Complements

Background:

Every sentence contains a subject and a predicate (verb). Some sentences may also contain complements – direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives, or predicate adjectives. Any of these sentence parts may be compound.

Examples:
Definition / Sample Sentence with Complement
Direct Object: A noun, pronoun, or word group that tells who or what receives the action of a verb or shows the result of an action. / Tony threw the ball to John.
This year, New York will host the Super Bowl.
Kansas City played Green Bay in the first Super Bowl game.
Has the NFC or the AFC won more Super Bowl titles?
Indirect Object: A noun, pronoun, or word group that often appears in sentences containing direct objects; tells to whom or to what (or for whom or for what) the action of the transitive verb is done. / Ms. Thompson gave us a math quiz today.
I lent Tamara my baseball glove.
The Nineteenth Amendment gives women the right to vote.
Maxine baked our class cupcakes.
Predicate Nominative: A word or group of words that is in the predicate (i.e., follows the main verb) and that identifies the subject or refers to it; will typically be a noun or pronoun. (Think: NOUN = NOMINATIVE) / Bob is a boy.
Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina.
Is that your new bicycle?
You have been a loyal friend to me!
Predicate Adjective: An adjective that is in the predicate (i.e., follows the main verb) and that modifies the subject. / Jane is beautiful.
Is that volcano extinct?
All of the contestants appear calm and confident.
This song was popular in 1999.

Practice:

Directions: In each of the following sentences, underline or highlight the sentence part or parts given in parenthesis.

Example: (direct object) Give your tickets to the person at that window.

1. (direct object) Have you ever visited a county fair?

2. (predicate adjective) The playful antics of the rodeo clowns were quite entertaining.

3. (predicate nominative) “These animals can be good pets,” sald the ranchhand.

4. (compound direct object) Until then, I had considered only cats, dogs, or fish as good pets.

5. (predicate adjective) “By now these sheep are hungry.”

6. (indirect object) “Would you give them lunch?”

7. (indirect object) The ranchhand gave each of us a handful of pet food pellets.

8. (direct object) The sheep gave me a brilliant idea.

9. (compound predicate adjective) Yard work certainly can become tiresome and dull.

10. (predicate nominative) In other words, a sheep is a natural lawn mower!

**If you have some extra time, try to diagram #2 and #9. J