Structure of

Complementation
Meeting 6
Complement in NP
Some Post-head dependents are complements of
the head noun rather than modifiers.

Complements of N are typically PP or Clause which

'completes' the meaning of the head Noun.

My interest in your proposal

The professor's study of refugees
The lecturer's insistence on punctuality
His assertion that linguistics is fun
Their claim that linguistics is hard
Contrast between PP modifiers and PP complements

• Closer semantic and syntactic relationship between PP

complement and head
Which small boy?
The small boy with the large dog
The small boy in the garden
The small boy on the fence

*Which reliance? Reliance on what/who?

Reliance on your ability/ on your uncle
Contrast between PP modifiers and PP complements

• PP modifier may be headed by any preposition

Which small boy?
The small boy with the large dog
The small boy in the garden
The small boy on the fence

• PP complement has restricted P (depending on head N)

Interest in what?
Interest in your proposal
*Interest with/by/on your proposal
 VERB NOUN

insists on NP insistence on NP
relies on NP reliance on NP
worries about NP worry about NP
interests oneself in NP interest in NP
studies NP student of NP / study of NP
dislikes NP dislike of NP
loves NP love of NP/ lover of NP

Relationship between PP complement of N reflects

relationship between corresponding verb and its complement.
Only one complement; multiple modifiers

The small boy [in the garden] [with his pet dog]
The small boy [with his pet dog] [in the garden]

*The student [of physics] [of theology].

Complement precedes modifier

The student [of physics] [with his pet dog]

*The student [with his pet dog] [of physics]
Functions in Adjective Phrase (AdjP)

• Head
• Dependents:
• Prehead Modifier (PrHdMod)
• Posthead Complement (Comp)
AdjP

PrHdMod:AdvP Head:Adj Comp:PP

so very improbably keen on that movie

crazy about that movie
Functions in the Adverb Phrase (AdvP)

• head: Adv
• dependents:
• prehead modifier: AdvP
• posthead complement: PP / clause

more carefully than Jo

so very quickly that he fell over
quickly *than Jo/ that he fell over
PrHdMod: Head: Comp:
AdvP Adv PP/Clause
Functions in the Preposition Phrase
PP
• head: P
• Prehead modifier: AdvP
• Posthead complement: NP/PP

PP

PrHdMod:AdvP Head:P Comp:NP

straight though the intersection
almost right into the crowd
barely in the water
Summarizing functions of constituents of phrases:
• head
• dependents

Types of dependents:
• prehead
• determiner (in NP only)
• modifer
• posthead
• modifier
• complement
Functions in the Verb Phrase (VP)

 Head: V
 Dependents:
– Pre-head modifier: AdvP
– Post-head modifier: AdvP/PP
– (Post-head) complement:
NP/PP/AdvP/clause
 S

Subject:NP Tense:AUX Predicate:VP

head:V PtHdMod:AdvP

The boy has run very quickly

Subject:NP Tense:AUX Predicate:VP

PrHdMod:AdvP V

The boy has very quickly run

 Types of Complement in the VP
• Direct Object: NP
• Indirect Object: NP
• Prepositional Phrase Complement (PPC): PP
• Subject Predicative Complement (PCS): NP/AdjP
• Object Predicative Complement (PCO): NP/AdjP

Post-head modifiers in VP are often referred to as adjuncts

Direct Object (DO) Function in VP

 The direct object function is filled by NP

– The dogs chased the cats.
 If the direct object is a pronoun, the pronoun is in
Accusative case form.
– The dogs chased them. (*they)
 In basic sentences, the direct object NP comes
immediately after the verb
– *The dogs chased [quickly] them.
 Exception: if there is also an indirect object NP
– The boy bought [the girl] an icecream.
Unlike PP complements in NPs and AdjPs the direct
object (DO) NP is usually obligatory in English
The boy discovered the treasure.
The boy discovered it.
*The boy discovered.

The discovery of the treasure

The discovery
Indirect Object (IO) function in VP

 Indirect object (IO) function is only filled by NP

• IO follows V and precedes DO

– I gave my brother [a new bicycle].

 The IO pronoun is Accusative (or Reflexive)

Accusative IO I baked him a cake
Reflexive IO I baked myself a cake
 Preposition Phrase Complement in VP
(PPC)

 a PP may fill a complement function in a VP

 It may be the only complement
– John relies on his friend.
 It may follow an NP (DO) complement
– John put [the book] on the table.
 As with PP complements in an NP or AdjP, the
choice of preposition is restricted by the verb.
– relies on/*in/*from; believes in/*on/*about
Subjective Predicative Complement (PCS)

 PCS is filled by NP or by AdjP

 PCS comes directly after the verb
 The PCS describes an attribute or property of the
referent of the subject NP

Compare:
– The man saw a doctor. (DO)
– The man became a doctor. (PCS)

– *The man saw very clever. (DO)

– The man became very clever. (PCS)
Another property of PCS

 If the PCS is a NP, it normally agrees with the subject NP

The gentleman is a lawyer.
The gentlemen are lawyers.
*The gentleman is lawyers.
*The gentlemen are a lawyer.
 Only a limited set of verbs take an NP as PCS:
– be, become, seem, look, resemble...
 Tests to distinguish PCS from DO

Test 1 - Substitution
Marjorie looked a fright.
 PCS can be NP or AdjP.
 DO can only be NP.

Can you replace the NP with an AdjP?

Marjorie looked frightful /angry /very sad.
Therefore - PCS.
 Tests to distinguish PCS from DO

Test 2 - Agreement
The doctor seems a nice man.
 PCS must agree with the subject.
 DO does not agree with the subject
The doctor saw a nice man/nice men.

Can you make the NP plural?

*The doctor seems nice men.
Therefore - PCS.
Objective Predicative Complement (PCO)

 Similar to PCS in many respects, but a PCO describes

an attribute of the DO of a sentence.
We consider him our leader.
Subj Verb DO PCO

 The PCO function is filled by NP or AdjP.

– We consider him very trustworthy.

 An NP in the PCO function agrees in number with the

DO phrase.
– We consider them our leaders.
Distinguish PCO construction from IO
construction

 VP  V NP NP
We consider him our leader. (DO PCO)
We gave him our leader. (IO DO)
• Substitute AdjP for NP if PCO
• We consider him very stong.
• Cannot substitute AdjP for NP if DO
• *We gave him very strong.
Distinguish PCO construction from IO
construction

 VP  V NP NP
We consider him our leader. (DO PCO)
We gave him our leader. (IO DO)
• DO NP and PCO NP agree in number
• We consider him our leader. (singular)
• We consider them our leaders. (plural)

• No number agreement between IO and DO

• We gave him our leader/leaders.
• We gave them our leader/leaders.
Adjuncts
 Post-head dependents which are not complements in a
VP are adjuncts
 Adjuncts are never obligatory
 Adjuncts modify some aspect of the possible reference
of the VP
 Different types of phrases can act as an adjunct in a
VP (XP is an abbreviation for an unspecified type
of phrase)
 Adjuncts can be fronted to pre-Subject
I left very quickly. (AdvP)
I left.
Very quickly I left.

I saw John on Tuesday. (PP)

I saw John.
On Tuesday I saw John.

Mary left the following day. (NP)

Mary left.
The following day Mary left.

Multiple adjuncts
Sue slept very badly in the plane on Tuesday after the
meeting
Complements cannot be omitted (except in special cases)

I behave very badly. (COMP:AdvP)

*I behave ___. (incomplete - opposite meaning)

I put John on the ground. (COMP:PP)

*I put John ___.

Mary left her bag. (COMP:NP)

*Mary left ____.

Santa depends on Rudolph. (COMP:PP)

*Santa depends ___.
Complements precede adjuncts
John read [the book] carefully/in the lounge
*John read carefully/in the lounge [the book].

Exception: 'Heavy' DO NP may follow an adjunct phrase

John examined (very) carefully [every single document in
the safe].
Summary

Every phrase has a head

A phrase may have dependents
Dependents may precede or follow the head
Dependents with a close semantic and syntactic
relationship with the head are complements
In some phrases (e.g., VP) complements may be
obligatory
Dependents which are freely added to a phrase to modify
the head are adjuncts