- The people have elected Chamberlain governor.
- Peter calls Richard my shadow.
- The court has appointed you the child’s guardian.
- John thinks himself a hero.
488. An adjective may serve as a predicate objective. Thus,—
- I thought your decision hasty.
- I call that answer impertinent.
- The jury found the prisoner guilty.
- Your letter made him joyful.
Care should be taken not to confuse adverbs with adjectives in -ly serving as predicate objectives.
- You called him sickly. [Adjective.]
- You called him early. [Adverb.]
After the passive, a predicate objective becomes a predicate nominative ([§ 489]).
3. THE PREDICATE NOMINATIVE
489. A substantive standing in the predicate, but describing or defining the subject, agrees with the subject in case and is called a predicate nominative ([§ 88, 2]).
A predicate nominative is often called a subject complement or an attribute.
The predicate nominative is common after is and other copulative verbs, and after certain transitive verbs in the passive voice.