Lesson 2: The Direct Object
Pattern #3: S-Vt-DO-OCN/A
Our last push in this lesson is our third sentence pattern, S-Vt-DO-OCN/A. You know what the S, Vt and DO are, and now we will take another look at nouns, throw in some adjectives, and learn about the Object Complement.
The Object Complement
ob·ject com·ple·ment a noun, pronoun, or adjective that follows a direct object in order to rename it or state what it has become
The object complement can be a confusing idea, but you are going to get it! It’s a word following a DO that renames or describes that DO. If inserting the words “to be” between the direct object and object complement does not change the meaning, you know that you have an object complement. (This test works most, but not all, of the time.)
To rename a direct object means to state another name for it. You might think about it as putting an equal sign (=) between the DO and object complement. For example, I might say, “I call Blackbeard the captain.” In doing so, I am using an object complement. The first noun is the direct object and the second noun that renames the DO is the Object Complement Noun (OCN).
However, if I say, “I call Blackbeard fearsome,” I am not renaming him, but rather describing him (with an adjective) and that adjective describing the DO is the Object Complement Adjective (OCA). Some examples will help clarify.
How do we diagram a sentence with an object complement? We use the Stative shelf.
Object Complement Nouns and Adjectives (OCN, OCA) and Predicate Nominatives and Adjectives (we will learn about these later), go on the top of this shelf, affixed to the subject/verb shelf.
Remember that when we diagram, we are interested in the structure of the sentence, not the purpose. So questions are rearranged and verbs within a single verbal idea are kept together.
Let’s look at one more sentence: “He made breakfast ready.” This is from our Super Sentence. Think through the questions following the sentence and how you would parse and diagram it before scrolling down.
“He made breakfast ready.”
What is the subject?
What is the verb?
Is the verb transitive or intransitive?
Is there a direct object? If so, what is it?
Is there a word following the DO that renames or describes it?
(Think it through before scrolling!)
Ready...
Set...
Answer:
