THE SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT
=Function.=--When we wish to assert that a thing possesses a certain
quality, we do it by a predicate made up of some form of the verb _be_
together with an adjective; as in the sentence, “The very name was
uncanny.”--_Page._ Here the idea words are the subject noun and the
adjective in the predicate; the verb _was_ serves merely as a copula,
or tie-word, necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence,
but having little, if any, meaning.
The verb is employed in the same way when we wish to denote--
(_a_) The identity of two ideas; as, “The secret of success is
concentration.”--_Schreiner._
(_b_) The class to which a thing belongs; as, “Ben Battle was a soldier
bold.”--_Hood._
In such sentences as the three quoted, we call the adjective or noun in
the predicate a _subjective complement_ of the verb. The noun is often
termed a predicate nominative, and the adjective a predicate adjective.
In either case the complement tells some attribute of the subject,
and it is for the express purpose of telling this attribute that such
sentences are made. These sentences are very common, being framed
to answer certain questions that it is natural for the mind to ask;
namely, who is he? what is it? what kind of person is he? what sort of
thing is it?
The noun used as base-word of a subjective complement does not
necessarily agree with the subject in number; as, “Justice and
Reverence are the everlasting central Law of the Universe.”--_Carlyle._
Neither does the subjective complement have to succeed its verb.
Sometimes the whole order of the sentence is inverted; thus, “Fair as
a summer dream was Margaret.”--_Lowell._ “A very attractive person is
that child-loving girl.”--_Miss Mitford._
* * * * *
=The Subjective Complement not always a Noun or Adjective.=--Often,
as was stated in Chapter XXIII, a prepositional phrase takes the
place of a predicate adjective, usually because we have no adjective
adequate to express the meaning of the phrase. In this sentence from
Lowell,--“Popular literature is _of value_,” the adjective _valuable_
might well be substituted for the phrase; but in the following
sentences the language affords no equivalent adjectives.--“I am _in
love_ with this green earth.”--_Lamb._ “J. G. Whittier is _of a Quaker
family_ and was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts.”
The noun clause, the root infinitive, the gerund, and the participle
used as subjective complements, have been discussed in preceding
chapters.
To this use must also be referred the personal pronoun in the
possessive case used as in the sentence,--“All the beauty of these
summer days is _mine_.” Is this pronoun a predicate nominative meaning
_my beauty_, or is it a predicate adjective meaning _possessed by me_,
or shall we make no attempt to classify it at all?
The word _so_ often does duty as a subjective complement. It is used to
avoid a repetition of some noun or adjective; as, “The house is empty
and has been _so_ for months.”
* * * * *
=Verbs that take a Subjective Complement.=--The verb _be_ is by no
means the only one that may be completed by a subjective complement.
There are numerous others, most of which will fall in the following
classes.
1. _Become_, and verbs of similar meaning, like _grow_, _get_, _turn_;
as, “Bob had grown up very handsome.”--_Page._
2. Certain verbs of position like _stand_, _sit_, _lie_; as, “The moon
stood bright and full in the heavens.”--_Howells._
3. Verbs signifying to appear to the senses, like _look_, _feel_,
_smell_, _sound_, _taste_; as, “Our own thought sounds new and larger
from his mouth.”--_Emerson._ “Both he and his wife looked outwardly
gentlefolks.”--_Lamb._
4. A few verbs denoting action, like _begin_, _come_, _go_,
_rise_, _spring_; as, “One that goes in a nurse may come out an
angel.”--_Holmes._ With this class of verbs an adjective complement
often seems to partake of the nature of an adverb; as, “They descended
_fearless_ into all gulfs and bedlams.”--_Carlyle._ The author must
decide whether to use the adjective or the adverb by his purpose. That
is, does he wish to make more prominent the condition of the subject or
the manner of the action?
5. Certain passive verbs. In general these are:--
(_a_) Verbs of _calling_; as, “The place is fitly called Inspiration
Point.”--_King._
(_b_) Verbs of _deeming_; as, “I have been counted a successful
teacher.”--_Annie Preston._
(_c_) Verbs of _making_; as, “The forlorn condition of the new settlers
was made still worse by domestic feuds.”--_Prescott._
* * * * *
=Introductory Word.=--After some verbs it is usage to precede the
complement by _as_ or _for_, sometimes even by the infinitive _to
be_. These words are not connectives, nor do they add anything to the
meaning of the sentence, though often they do serve to make it more
clear; thus, “Chaucer undoubtedly began as an imitator, perhaps as mere
translator.”--_Lowell._
If _as_ were omitted, it might not be clear at once that _imitator_ is
not a direct object of _began_.
Exercise 32
Explain how all verbs and verbals in the following sentences are
completed.
1. Duck-hunting was my favorite sport, and the marshes on the river
were fine grounds for them usually, but this season the weather had
been so singularly warm that the sport had been poor.--_Page._
2. It is not simply beets and potatoes and corn and string-beans
that one raises in his well-hoed garden; it is the average of human
life.--_Warner._
3. The cultivation of this delightful and beautiful art of reading
should be recognized as a part of a liberal education.--_Brook._
4. Bread is found fresh at the baker’s.--_Howells._
5. Blithe were it then to wander here.--_Scott._
6. We’ll choose among them as they lie asleep.
7. You come hot and tired from the day’s battle and this sweet
minstrel sings to you.--_Thackeray._
8. The doctor had been and gone, and the hand had been pronounced as
injured but slightly, though it would of course have been considered a
far more serious case if Mr. Smith had been a richer man.--_T. Hardy._
9. Half the secret of human intercourse is to make allowance for each
other.--_Leigh Hunt._
10. The eating-houses are almost without number.--_Howells._
11. We read of cliffs that spring naked and sheer to an equal
height.--_King._
12. He stood concealed amid the brake
To view this Lady of the Lake.--_Scott._
13. Christians were cast to the lions, but the Christian church grew
up a stately and spreading tree.--_Mill._
14. The wind was blowing a hurricane.--_Page._
15. Two years later, Mexico became independent of Spain, and
California was made a Mexican province.
16. Why are we never quite at our ease in the presence of a
schoolmaster?--_Lamb._
17. A chieftain’s daughter seemed the maid.--_Scott._
18. His meat was locusts and wild honey.