Besides these verbs requiring object complements, there are others that do not make complete sense without the aid of a complement of another kind.
A complete predicate does the asserting and expresses what is asserted. In the sentence, Armies march, march is a complete predicate, for it does the asserting and expresses what is asserted; viz., marching. In the phrase, armies marching, marching expresses the same act as that denoted by march, but it asserts nothing. In the sentence, Chalk is white, is does the asserting, but it does not express what is asserted. We do not wish to assert merely that chalk is or exists. What we wish to assert of chalk, is the quality expressed by the adjective white. As white expresses a quality or attribute, we may call it an +Attribute Complement+.
Using expressions like the following, let the facts given above be drawn from the class by means of questions.
Grass growing; grass grows; green grass; grass is green.
+DEFINITION.—The Object Complement of a sentence completes the predicate, and names that which receives the act+.
+DEFINITION.—The Attribute Complement of a sentence completes the predicate and belongs to the subject+.
The complement with all its modifiers is called the +Modified
Complement+.
Analysis and Parsing.
+Model+.—Fulton invented the first steamboat.
Fulton | invented | steamboat
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