Object Compliment

An object complement is an noun, pronoun, or adjective which follows a direct object and renames it or tells what the direct object has become. It is most often used with verbs of creating or nominating such as make, name, elect, paint, call, etc.

Example:

SUBJECT        VERB                          OBJECT                      OBJECT COMPLIMENT

She                   appointed                          her                                 deputy captain.

The object compliment can be:

·        A Noun:

I appointed him captain.

·        An adjective or adjective phrase:

Surya made him uneasy.

·        A noun phrase:

Both the universities made him honorary doctor.

·        A noun clause:

He made it what it is today.

Examples of Object Compliments from literature:

·         "I paint the plaster walls white, except for the little nook under the sloping roof where my bed fits just perfectly. There, I paint the walls and sloping ceiling black."
(Meredith Hall, Without a Map. Beacon, 2007)

·         "The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names, too."
(Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885)

·         "Bheema joined Gandhi in his struggle for India's independence and called his father a traitor."
(Anita Rau Badami, Tamarind Mem. Viking Penguin, 1996)

This post is a part of the APRIL A-Z Challenge