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In grammar, a complement is a word, phrase, or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of a given expression. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Complements are often also arguments (expressions that help complete the meaning of a predicate ).
English adjectives can take clauses, preposition phrases, and noun phrases as complements. Clause complements in adjective phrases can be either finite or nonfinite. Finite clause complements can be declarative (e.g., very pleased that I had bought his book) or interrogative (e.g., not sure whether I want to keep reading).
The earliest use of the word clause in Middle English is non-technical and similar to the current everyday meaning of phrase: "A sentence or clause, a brief statement, a short passage, a short text or quotation; in a ~, briefly, in short; (b) a written message or letter; a story; a long passage in an author's source." [5]
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In some cases, particularly with noun and adjective phrases, it is not always clear which dependents are to be classed as complements, and which as adjuncts.Although in principle the head-directionality parameter concerns the order of heads and complements only, considerations of head-initiality and head-finality sometimes take account of the position of the head in the phrase as a whole ...
In traditional grammar, a subject complement is a predicative expression that follows a copula (commonly known as a linking verb), which complements the subject of a clause by means of characterization that completes the meaning of the subject. [1] When a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun functions as a subject complement, it is called a ...
Verbs, though, take various complements, including object, goal complement, predicative complement, and no complement at all, in the case of an intransitive verb. Similarly, an adjective phrase may consist of an adjective alone or with a complement (e.g., I'm happy ; I'm happy to be here ).
The flip-side read: “You’re receiving this compliment because your awesomeness deserves a big shoutout,” along with a reminder that kind words have the power to brighten other people’s day ...