Meaning & use
subject complement
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Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A word or phrase after a linking verb that tells us who or what the subject is, or what it is like.
Grammar: Grammar term: in 'The soup is cold', the subject complement is 'cold'.
Patterns
- a subject complement after a linking verb
In 'My brother is a pilot', 'a pilot' is the subject complement.
The adjective 'tired' acts as the subject complement in 'She looks tired'.
Students must underline the subject complement in each sentence.
Word forms
| plural | subject complements |
|---|
Common combinations
- identify the subject complement
- Identify the subject complement in each sentence.
- a predicate adjective as subject complement
- In 'The sky is gray', the adjective works as a subject complement.
- a noun subject complement
- 'Teacher' is a noun subject complement in 'Ms. Lee became a teacher'.
- linking verb and subject complement
- A linking verb is followed by a subject complement.
Synonyms and how they differ
- predicate nominative
- Predicate nominative covers only nouns or pronouns after a linking verb, while subject complement also includes adjectives.
- predicate adjective
- Predicate adjective is the narrower term for an adjective in this position, whereas subject complement covers both nouns and adjectives.
Word family
- complement noun
- a part that completes the meaning of a verb or subject
- complementary adjective
- completing something
- object complement noun
- a complement that describes the object, not the subject
- subject noun
- the person or thing a sentence is about
Commonly confused: subject complement or compliment? subject complement or direct object?
subject complement vs compliment
A compliment is praise, spelled with an i; a complement completes something.
subject complement vs direct object
A direct object receives an action, while a subject complement describes the subject.
Practice
In the sentence 'The lake looks calm', what is the subject complement?
Choose one answer.
'Calm' follows the linking verb 'looks' and describes the subject. 'Lake' is the subject itself, so it cannot be its own complement.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subject complement”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.