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Debpriya De Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Secondary predicate

"James drove the car drunk." In this sentence "drunk" is in the place of objective complement but it seems more like a subjective complement. What kind of sentence is this ? Please explain.
  

Top answer

Debpriya De, in James drove the car drunk the last word represents a supplementive clause (verbless adjectival clause) in final position. It is understood that the adjective is in a copular relationship with the subject ( James ). The adjective can be moved to the beginning of the sentence, and its function is that of subject complement .

— Andriy Lapin

  • Debpriya De, in James drove the car drunk the last word represents a supplementive clause (verbless adjectival clause) in final position.
  • It is understood that the adjective is in a copular relationship with the subject ( James ).
  • The adjective can be moved to the beginning of the sentence, and its function is that of subject complement .
  • Respectfully, Gleb Chebrikoff
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3 Answers
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Debpriya De,

in James drove the car drunk the last word represents a supplementive clause (verbless adjectival clause) in final position. It is understood that the adjective is in a copular relationship with the subject (James). The adjective can be moved to the beginning of the sentence, and its function is that of subject complement.

Respec
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Debpriya De"James drove the car drunk." In this sentence "drunk" is in the place of objective complement but it seems more like a subjective complement. What kind of sentence is this ? Please explain.

In your sentence drunk is a subject-oriented depictive secondary predication.

Here's what Himmelman and Berndt say about it:

"Depic
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CalifJimIn your sentence drunk is a subject-oriented depictive secondary predication.
Now that is a mouthful.
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