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Those who speak, write, and study English are typically familiar with how nouns are enhanced by adjectives and other nouns, such as appositives and subject complements.
Examples
The brown satchel belongs to the lawyer. (adjective describing the subject noun, satchel)
Jenna is a lawyer. (subject complement renaming the subject noun, Jenna)
My sister Jenna, a lawyer, is carrying a satchel. (appositive renaming the subject noun, Jenna) |
Now consider the following sentences:
The weather is making our travel hazardous.
I consider her my friend to the end.
They have just named him ambassador to Candyland. |
Here too we have underlined words that either describe or rename a noun. However, they are not modifying the subject. This places them in a different grammatical category.
What Is an Object Complement?
An object complement is a word or a phrase that describes, renames, or identifies the object of a clause. An object complement follows the object. It can be an adjective or adjective phrase, a noun or noun phrase, or a pronoun or pronoun phrase.
It functions to modify or complete the object, thus providing more information about it or stating what it has become. In the examples above, our travel (direct object) has become hazardous (adjective), her (direct object) has become my friend to the end (noun phrase), and him (direct object) has become an ambassador to Candyland (noun).
You will find that object complements often follow certain verbs, particularly those that involve making, naming, or choosing.
| to make |
to consider |
to elect |
| to name |
to appoint |
to paint |
| to call |
to pronounce |
to catch |
| to choose |
to declare |
to create |
Examples
Mishkat's exercise is making him a new man. (noun phrase)
They consider the case closed. (adjective)
They called me something silly before they left. (indefinite pronoun phrase)
She is creating a quilt with a mosaic pattern. (adjectival prepositional phrase) |
Object complements are often important to sentences because not including them can change the meaning of the verb, exclude details for understanding, or make a statement nonsensical or incomplete. Compare the following sentences with the ones right above:
Mishkat's exercise is making him.
They consider the case.
They called me before they left.
She is creating a quilt. |
Being aware of what object complements are, how they function, and why we need them contributes to better, clearer communication.
Object Complements: Not About the Action
An important thing to reinforce about object complements is that they do not describe or modify the action of a sentence; they concern only the sentence object.
Without this distinction, we might sometimes find ourselves using an adverb where we need an adjective for clarity. Consider the differences in meaning within the following sentence pairs:
He worked on the model until he felt he had made it perfect. (object complement)
He worked on the model until he felt he had made it perfectly. (adverb)
The king's oppressive edicts could make a good person bad. (object complement)
The king's oppressive edicts could make a good person badly. (adverb) |
When writing similar constructions, we want to be aware of whether we mean to modify the object or the verb of a clause.
Object Complements: Different From Subject Complements
Understanding how object complements differ from subject complements further contributes to precision and eloquence in your writing.
As we've touched on, subject complements describe or rename sentence subjects, and object complements describe or rename sentence objects. A subject complement also will follow only a linking verb.
Compare the following sentences:
The paint in the room will be red.
Let's paint the room red. |
In the first sentence, the adjective red describes the sentence subject, paint. It also follows the future tense of the verb to be. This makes red a subject complement.
In the second sentence, the adjective red modifies the sentence object, room. It is not related to the sentence subject or verb.
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