Verbs of this kind are often called incomplete verbs, or verbs of incomplete predication.
Note. The meaning of the verb determines to which of these classes it belongs. Accordingly, the same verb may belong to the first class in some of its senses and to the second in others ([§§ 212–215]).
483. A substantive or adjective added to the predicate verb to complete its meaning is called a complement.
Complements are of four kinds,—the direct object, the predicate objective, the predicate nominative, and the predicate adjective.
In the examples in [§ 482], deer and shoes are direct objects,—the former denoting the receiver of the action, the latter denoting the product; captain is a predicate nominative, denoting the same person as the subject Tom ([§ 88, 2]); sorry is a predicate adjective describing the subject man.
Complements may, of course, be modified. If they are substantives, they may take adjective modifiers; if adjectives, they may take adverbial modifiers ([§§ 464], [494]).
484. For convenience, the definitions of the four kinds of complements are here repeated, with examples.
1. THE DIRECT OBJECT
485. Some verbs may be followed by a substantive denoting that which receives the action or is produced by it. These are called transitive verbs. All other verbs are called intransitive.
A substantive that completes the meaning of a transitive verb is called its direct object ([§ 100]).