English for the Eager Learners

Lesson 2
20
Complements
Both the noun ‘doctor’ and the adjective ‘happy’ are complements of ‘is’. There are
many other linking verbs, such as seem, appear, become, grow, turn, prove, look,
come, go, feel, get, etc. They take a noun or an adjective as their complements, NOT
as objects.
For Example:
n. link. v. adj.
The weather looks fine.
We can understand the sentence in two ways:
• The adjective ‘fine’ is complement of the
linking verb ‘looks’.
• The adjective ‘fine’ qualifies the noun
‘weather’.
Noun or adjective?
If we put a noun instead of an adjective after a linking verb, we say the two nouns
refer to the same person or thing.
So the following sentence is incorrect.
John becomes a teacher. (John = a teacher )
John is happiness.
The weather looks fine.
‘John’ is a man, and ‘happiness’ is an abstract noun. They are different things. Here
we must use the adjective form ‘happy’ instead.
John is happy. ( = happy John / a happy man)