Prepositional Complement, Subj Complement, Noun Complement, Modality

Question

Hi!
I just wanna ask you to help me clarifying this topics.

1) Is the Prepositional Complement the same of OBJECT OF PREPOSITION?

2) A man named "SPAM KING" had been arrested.

" SPAM KING" is considered by my teacher as a SUBJ.COMPLEMENT....but I don't understand why! Is the subj.complement the structure which is obligatory after a copula or linking verbs?I think that "TO NAME" is neither a COPULA nor a LINKING VERB.

3) The claim THAT THEY FOUND A CURE is unfounded.

"THAT THEY FOUND A CURE" is considered by my teacher as a NOUN COMPLEMENT.

Why? Is NOUN COMPLEMENT the same of PREDICATE NOMINATIVE?

4)As regards the MODALITY, it can be EPISTEMIC or DEONTIC.... I have doubts about these sentences:
- The men, WEARING anoraks and hats, made off in a stolen Volvo estate"
-The Prime Minister IS BEING ENCOURAGED to sack the Health Minister."
It is said that in these sentences (as regard the verbs "Wearing" and "Is being encouraged") the MODALITY isn't realised...but why? When a modality isn't realised?

THANKS to whoever can help me

These questions are very important for me! Next week I will have an exam!

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Anonymous1) Is the Prepositional Complement the same as OBJECT OF PREPOSITION?

I would say so. Yes.

Anonymous2) A man named "SPAM KING" had been arrested.
" SPAM KING" is considered by my teacher as a SUBJ.COMPLEMENT..but I don't understand why! Is the subj.complement the structure which is obligatory after a copula or linking verbs?I think that "TO NAME" is neither a COPULA nor a LINKING VERB.

You would have to ask your teacher why he has chosen certain terminology to describe these things. You might say that "Spam King" IS the man, so it's not unusual to call it a subject complement.

Anonymous3) The claim THAT THEY FOUND A CURE is unfounded.
"THAT THEY FOUND A CURE" is considered by my teacher as a NOUN COMPLEMENT.
Why? Is NOUN COMPLEMENT the same of PREDICATE NOMINATIVE?

A noun complement is not the same as a predicate nominative.

"that they found a cure" is a content clause. It is the "content" of the claim. In other words the claim IS that they found a cure.

Anonymous4)As regards the MODALITY, it can be EPISTEMIC or DEONTIC.. I have doubts about these sentences:
- The men, WEARING anoraks and hats, made off in a stolen Volvo estate"
-The Prime Minister IS BEING ENCOURAGED to sack the Health Minister."

I don't know how expansive a definition of "modality" your teacher is using. The modal verbs are, basically, will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, and must, and those sentences do not contain any of those verbs. Maybe that's all that is meant by unrealized modality. Again, you'll have to ask your teacher or consult with other members of your class who seem to understand the teacher's lectures better. I don't see how the classifications 'epistemic' and 'deontic' come into it at all.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

I just want to thank you for your reply which I found very usefull but I can't understand what a NOUN COMPLEMENT is! I don't know nothing about it(but I tried to search for it several times) ..How can I recognise a Noun complement? Can you help me? Thank you,

Ornella

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI can't understand what a NOUN COMPLEMENT is!

In very basic terms, it's a word or group of words that completes the meaning of a noun. A noun complement is often a prepositional phrase or a clause after the noun, or another noun in front of the noun. (For comparison, consider that a verb complement is a word or group of words that completes the meaning of a verb - in other words, the object of a verb is called a verb complement.)

Noun complements (underlined):

a student of chemistry (He studies chemistry.)

the ban on smoking (They banned smoking.)

damage to the brain (Something damaged the brain.)

the thought that he might fail (Somebody thought that he might fail.)

the claim that I lied (Somebody claimed that I lied.)

his prediction that the world would end (He predicted that the world would end.)

a science teacher (He teaches science.)

a fraud investigation (Someone investigates fraud.)

the car wreck (Somebody wrecked the car.)

Note the relation to the verb complements in parentheses. You can't always find a corresponding verb phrase that shows the same complement relationship, but often you can.

________

It's a troublesome concept, so don't feel bad if you don't understand it immediately. It will take some thinking and a lot of practice to master the concept. What is so problematic is this: The term "noun complement" is used in opposition to the term "noun adjunct", which is different, but which may look quite similar.

Noun adjuncts (underlined):

a student with brown hair

the shop on the corner

a bridge over the river

the letter that Robert sent you last week

the gift which she received from her brother

the claim that I made

Adjuncts before the noun are called attributes.

the corner shop

the winter weather

her computer keyboard

_______________

You can have both, of course:

an Italian teacher of English

The teacher's nationality is Italian. Italian is an adjunct - an attribute. The teacher teaches English. of English is a complement.

_______________

Some cases are ambiguous, for example:

a student of high moral principles

This can mean a person who studies high moral principles. In that case of high moral principles is a complement.

Or it can mean a person who has high moral principles. In that case of high moral principles is an adjunct.

CJ

See Andrew Radford's Transformational Grammar (Cambridge University Press)

______________

If you want another ambiguous one to think about, take a look at this:

the knowledge that the child would be able to learn after the operation

What does it mean if the that-clause is a complement?

What does it mean if the that-clause is an adjunct?

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI don't know nothing about it

I don't know anythingabout it.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

I want to thank u!You are a great teacher and I would love to have one like u!!!! Tomorrow I'll have the exam at the university and I took by heart all the examples u gave me.

I'll keep my fingers crossed !!!

Thanks for correcting me!!!!

Ornella

Anonymous · Answer

This Website really help the student just like me i learned many things about english it self by this website  LOL!!!

Anonymous · Answer

thank you for letting us understand what really is a noun complement.. i hope i can still find some more information in this website about grammar.

thanks a lot!!

Prepositional Complement, Subj Complement, Noun Complement, Modality

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