Complements

Which complement with which word?

Confusing. It’s a grammatical convention. Meaning will not suffice

Seem can take NP or AdjP

He seems a very nice guy (complement is NP)

He seems very nice (complement AdjP, almost the same)

Hire must take NP

He hired a very nice guy (NP)

~~He hired very nice~~ (hired must have an object, and only NP)

Fond: It’s an adjective. A PP with of is required

She’s is fond of ice cream (ok, Adj. complement)

~~She’s fond~~

Shake and Quake:

Shake the bottle (ok) ~~> Quake the bottle~~ (quake has same meaning, does not take an object)

Likely and Probable:

It’s likely that she’ll win is the same as It’s probable that she’ll win. But:

She is likely to resign (ok) She is probable to resign (not)

Out

Permits complement which is normally a PP starting with of, not an NP:

I’m afraid you are out of luck

But accepts NP when the NP refers to route or exit from an enclosed area:

The dogs ran right out the door

Secondary predicative

In CGEL, a secondary predicative (often called an object predicative when it’s predicated of the object) is a dependent that ascribes a property, state, or result to an NP other than the subject, licensed by the main verb rather than a copula.

The door is unlocked (primary) I left the door unlocked (secondary)

*Leave* allows secondary predicative

Key characteristics of secondary/object predicatives:

  1. Depends on the verb

    • The verb licenses the predication.

    • Only certain verbs allow secondary predicatives: leave, paint, make, find, catch, etc.

  2. Predicated of an NP that is not the subject

    • Usually the object (the door)

      • Occasionally the subject (depictive), e.g.,

        She sang the song tired (tired predicated of she)

  3. No linking verb is needed

The main verb carries the action; the predicative describes a result or state of the object.

Secondary predicative example

I rather carelessly left the door unlocked

Licensing by the verb

Only certain verbs allow this pattern:

  • ✔ leave the door unlocked

  • ✖ admire the door unlocked

The availability of unlocked depends on the lexical properties of leave. That dependence is a hallmark of complements, not adjuncts.

Obligatory predicative relation

Unlocked is not merely additional information; it forms a required predication over the object:

  • I left the door. → incomplete in the intended sense

  • I left the door unlocked. → coherent

The verb leave here selects an object plus a predicative complement describing its state.

Semantic integration (resultative meaning)

Unlocked expresses the resulting state caused by the event of leaving.
This tight semantic integration with the verb–object combination is characteristic of predicative complements, not optional modifiers.