Object Complement

Question

Hi guys.
Are the phrases in bold an object complement?
Can an object complement be a participle phrase?

''I saw him washing a bike.''
''He watched me playing a video game last night.''
''I saw an old man carrying a puppy.''

Thanks.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

jasonkhlimHi guys. Are the phrases in bold an object complement?Can an object complement be a participle phrase?''I saw him washing a bike.''''He watched me playing a video game last night.''''I saw an old man carrying a puppy.''Thanks.

I see the participle constructions as objects here, i.e. the non-finite clauses with their subjects (him, me, an old man), predicators (washing, playing, carring), and objects (a bike, a video game, a puppy).

You may also interpret them as a sort of relative clauses ("him [who was] washing a bike", "me [who was] playing a video game", "an old man [who was] carrying a puppy" which modify the heads of the noun phrases, i.e. "him", "me", "an old man" in I saw him washing a bike, He watched me playing a video game last night, I saw an old man carrying a puppy respectively.

Jasonkhlim · Answer

Anonymous jasonkhlimHi guys. Are the phrases in bold an object complement?Can an object complement be a participle phrase?''I saw him washing a bike.''''He watched me playing a video game last night.''''I saw an old man carrying a puppy.''Thanks.I see the participle constructions as objects here, i.e. the non-finite clauses with their subjects (him, me, an old man), predicators (washing, playing, carring), and objects (a bike, a video game, a puppy).You may also interpret them as a sort of relative clauses ("him [who was] washing a bike", "me [who was] playing a video game", "an old man [who was] carrying a puppy" which modify the heads of the noun phrases, i.e. "him", "me", "an old man" in I saw him washing a bike, He watched me playing a video game last night, I saw an old man carrying a puppy respectively.

Hi Anonymous.
What about this sentence?

''I found the guard sleeping in the barn''
link: http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/object_complement.htm

The website says sleeping in the barn is an object complement.

Anonymous · Answer

jasonkhlimHi Anonymous.What about this sentence?I found the guard sleeping in the barnlink: http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/object_complement.htm The website says sleeping in the barn is an object complemen

The cited website defines the object complement this way: "An object complement is a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective which follows a direct object to rename it or state what it has become."

So, in ''I found the guard sleeping in the barn'' the noun "the guard' is followed by "sleeping" which I consider an adjective here. "sleeping" is not a part of the non-finite clause as it is a case with participles in your OP. Note that the verb "sleep" is an intransitive one and as such it doesn't take objects in contrast with participles in OP.

Jasonkhlim · Answer

I am sorry. I am confused with your explanation. Would you mind providing me some examples?

BillJ · Answer

jasonkhlimHi guys. Are the phrases in bold an object complement?Can an object complement be a participle phrase?''I saw him washing a bike.''''He watched me playing a video game last night.''''I saw an old man carrying a puppy.''Thanks.

"I saw him [washing a bike]".
"He watched me [playing a video game last night]".
''I saw an old man [carrying a puppy].''

Although "him", "me" and "an old man" are objects of the underlined verbs, the bracketed non-finite clauses are not object complements, but catenative complements of those verbs. (In this context 'catenative' means chain of verbs.)

The same applies to the other example mentioned: ''I found the guard [sleeping in the barn]''.

BillJ

Object Complement

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