How to determine complement or adjunct?

Question

1. Do you want to live to be a hundred?2. I know him to be an honest man.3. I assumed him to be a thief.How to determine "to infinitive" a complement or an adjunct in the case of the first example "to be a hundred', the second example "to be an honest man", and the third example "to be a thief"?

BillJ · Accepted Answer

1. Do you want to live to be a hundred?

2. I know him to be an honest man.

3. I assumed him to be a thief.

Obligatory elements are always complements: they are needed to complete the verb phrase; optional elements may be either complements or adjuncts.

The infinitival clauses in 1. and 3. are clearly obligatory since dropping them would render the sentences ungrammatical.

In 2. to be an honest man is obligatory for this sense of know which means you aware of the fact that he is an honest man – you may never even have met him, but you have heard of his reputation. And if you say I know him, the verb has a different sense, i.e. that your are familiar or friendly with him.

How to determine complement or adjunct?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions