Pennsylvania College of Technology
ENL 111 - Vavra (Homepage)		 For more information on syntax, 
visit the KISS Homepage
Return to ENL111 Syntax Menu Return to Practice Exercises

 Finding Subjects, Finite Verbs, and Complements
Practice Exercise # 4

Directions: 
1. First place parentheses ( ) around every prepositional phrase.
2. Underline every subject once, every finite verb twice, and label complements (PA,PN, IO or DO). [Reminder: A predicate adjective describes the subject; a predicate noun "equals" the subject; an indirect object is someone or thing "to" or "for" whom (or what) the action of the verb is performed. Any other complement has to be a direct object.]
 

The text is:
      A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am." 
 
Note: In creating these pages, I cannot create a double underline. I will therefore underline both subjects and finite verbs once, but subjects will be in green; finite verbs in blue.

Sentence #1

Work your way through the text one sentence at a time.  The first sentence is:
      A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry (about it).
With the lone prepositional phrase marked, identify a finite verb or verb phrase:
       A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry (about it).
 To find the subject of "was overheard," ask "Who or what was overheard?" The answer in this sentence is "boy."
       A little boywas overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry (about it).
To find the complement of "was overheard," ask 'The boy was overheard whom or what?" The answer to that question is "praying," so "praying" is the complement. To determine the type of the complement:
[I will accept three different options here.]
1. Is it a predicate adjective? Some people may see "praying" as a verbal adjective modifying the subject "boy." In this course, I would accept that answer as correct. [Option #1] If you do not see it that way, continue with the procedure:
2. Is it a predicate noun? The "praying" and the subject ("boy") are not the same thing. There is no way, therefore, in which "praying" could be considered a predicate noun.
3. Is it an indirect object? The boy was not overheard  "to" or "for" praying. It cannot be an indirect object.
4. It must be a direct object. There is no other possibility. [Option #2]
Option #3: Although Option #2 is based on "There is no other possibility," that rule does have an exception. "Was overheard" is a verb in what is known as "passive voice." After passive verbs, complements are considered to be "Retained." Technically, therefore, this complement is a Retained Direct Object." Because we do not have the time to study passive voice, I do not expect you to know this, so I am marking it based on what I would expect most students to give me -- "Direct Object."
       A little boywas overheard praying (DO) : "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry (about it).
Finished with that rather troublesome complement, we need to check for another finite verb, which we find in "can make." [In this course, if you underline the "'t" ("not"), I will not count it as an error. Technically, however, "not" is always an adverb. It simply negates the meaning of whatever it modifies.]
       A little boywas overheard praying (DO) : "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry (about it).
Find the subject of "can make" by asking "Who or what can't make?" Note that the answer here is the immediately preceding "you."
       A little boywas overheard praying (DO) : "Lord, if youcan't make me a better boy, don't worry (about it).
Find the complement of "you can't make" by asking "You can't make whom or what?" I expect most students to identify "me" as the complement, and I will accept that answer. If we are paying attention to the meaning, however, (which we should be), we should note that the sentence does not mean "make me" in the sense of to make something. Rather, here the "make" means to remake something into something else. Thus the full complement of "make" is "me a better boy." This phrase, however, involves an ellipsed infinitive, a construction we have not studied. Thus I will accept either "me" or "me a better boy" as the complement. In either case, the complement is the same type. To determine the type of the complement:
1. Is it a predicate adjective? "Me" ceertainly does not describe the subject ("you"), so it cannot be a predicate adjective.
2. Is it a predicate noun? The "me" and the subject ("you") are not the same thing. There is no way, therefore, in which "me" could be considered a predicate noun.
3. Is it an indirect object? The sentence does not mean "If you can't make 'to' or 'for' me a better boy." [Many women probably wish that it did.] It cannot be an indirect object.
4. It must be a direct object. There is no other possibility.
       A little boywas overheard praying (DO) : "Lord, if youcan't make me (DO) a better boy, don't worry (about it).
With another somewhat troublesome complement out of the way, we need to look for another finite verb, which we find in "do worry."
       A little boywas overheard praying (DO) : "Lord, if youcan't make me (DO) a better boy, don't worry (about it).
To find the subject of "don't worry," we need to ask "Who or what don't worry?" I expect some students to make a mistake here by underlining "Lord" as the subject. [Remember, such a mistake will not count against you.] Technically, "Lord" here functions as what is known as Direct Address, something we don't address in this course. The subject of "don't worry" is an implied "you," as in the sentence "Close the door," or in the song, "Don't worry, be happy."
     To find the complement of "don't worry," we need to ask the question "Don't worry whom or what?" Nothing in this sentence answers that question, so there is no complement. [Note that the question is not "Don't worry about whom or what?"]
     Because there are no more finite verbs in this sentence, we are finished with it.

Sentence #2

The second sentence is:
I'm having a real good time like I am." 
There are no prepositional phrases in it, so we look for a finite verb or verb phrase. Note that "I'm" means "I am."
I'm having a real good time like I am." 
To find the subject of "am having," ask "Who or what is having?" That question gives us the subject "I."
I'm having a real good time like I am." 
To find the complement, ask "I'm having whom or what?" According to this sentence it is a real good "time."  To determine the type of the complement:
1. Is it a predicate adjective? "Time" ceertainly does not describe the subject ("I"), so it cannot be a predicate adjective.
2. Is it a predicate noun? "Time" and the subject ("I") are not the same thing. There is no way, therefore, in which "time" could be considered a predicate noun.
3. Is it an indirect object? The sentence does not mean "I'm having a real good 'to' or 'for' time."  It cannot be an indirect object.
4. It must be a direct object. There is no other possibility.
I'm having a real good time (DO) like I am." 
We need to check for another finite verb, and "am" is always a finite verb.
I'm having a real good time (DO) like I am." 
To find the subject of "am," we ask "Who or what am?" The answer, of course, is "I."
I'm having a real good time (DO) like Iam." 
We check for a complement by asking "I am who or what?" But nothing answers that question, so there is no complement. And, since there are no more finite verbs in this sentence, we are finished with it.

 
Go to Finding Clauses.