Subjective Complement

A Subjective Complement is a Surface Word (Noun, Pronoun, or Adjective) or noun phrase that follows a Copula (Linking Verb or Being Verb) and complements/completes (coreferences) the Sentence Subject by either renaming it or describing it.

• AKA: Subjective Completion.
• Context:
  • It can be:
    • a Word with an accompanying Phrase.
    • a Clause.
  • It can be:
    • a Predicate Nominal if it complements/completes the Sentence Subject.
    • a Predicate Adjective if it describes the Sentence Subjectve.
  • It is a type of Linguistic Complement.
• Example(s):
  • “epicurean”/Noun ⇒ “Jim is an [epicurean].”, after a Being Verb.
  • “epicurean”/Noun ⇒ “Jim became an [epicurean].”, after a Linking Verb.
  • “epicurean”/Adjective ⇒ “Jim is [epicurean].”, after a Being Verb.
  • “epicurean”/Adjective ⇒ “Jim became [epicurean].”, after a Linking Verb.
  • “a model student” ⇒ "Jim became [a model student].”, after a Linking Verb.
  • “a good leader” ⇒ "Jim proved [a good leader].
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • “the theorem”/Adjective ⇒ “Jim proved the theorem”, a Direct Object.
  • “C”/Noun: “I gave B a [C]”, a Direct Object.
  • “B”/Noun: “I gave [B] a C”, an Indirect Object.
• See: Direct Object, Objective Complement, Appositive.

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