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 Finding Subjects, Finite Verbs, and Complements
Practice Exercise # 9

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 ten-year-old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite knowledgeable about the Bible. Then one day she floored her grandmother by asking, "Which virgin was the mother of Jesus? The virgin Mary or the King James virgin?"
 
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 ten-year-old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite knowledgeable about the Bible.
First identify all the prepositional phrases: [Review this.]
     A ten-year-old, (under the tutelage) (of her grandmother), was becoming quite knowledgeable (about the Bible).
With the prepositional phrases out of the way, find a finite verb or verb phrase:
     A ten-year-old, (under the tutelage) (of her grandmother), was becoming quite knowledgeable (about the Bible).
Find the subject of "was becoming" by asking "Who or what was becoming?"
     A ten-year-old, (under the tutelage) (of her grandmother), was becoming quite knowledgeable (about the Bible).
Check for a complement by asking "A ten-year-old was becoming whom or what?" In this sentence, the answer to that question is "knowledgeable." To determine the type of the complement:
1. Is it a predicate adjective? "Knowledgeable" is an adjective and it describes what the subject ("ten-year-old") is becoming, so it is a predicate adjective.
     A ten-year-old, (under the tutelage) (of her grandmother), was becoming quite knowledgeable (PA) (about the Bible).
Next check for another finite verb or verb phrase. There are none so we are finished with this sentence.

Sentence #2

The second sentence is:
Then one day she floored her grandmother by asking, "Which virgin was the mother of Jesus?
First identify all the prepositional phrases: [Review this.]
Then one day she floored her grandmother (by asking), "Which virgin was the mother (of Jesus)?
With the prepositional phrases out of the way, find a finite verb or verb phrase:
Then one day she floored her grandmother (by asking), "Which virgin was the mother (of Jesus)?
Find the subject of "floored" by asking "Who or what floored?"
Then one day shefloored her grandmother (by asking), "Which virgin was the mother (of Jesus)?
Check for a complement by asking "She floored whom or what?" The answer to that question is "grandmother." To determine the type of the complement:
1. Is it a predicate adjective? "Grandmother" is not an adjective and does not describe the subject ("she"), so it cannot be a predicate adjective.
2. Is it a predicate noun? "Grandmother" and the subject ("she") do not refer to the same thing, they are not "equal," so the complement cannot be a predicate noun.
3. Is it an indirect object? The sentence does not mean she floored something "to" or "for" her grandmother, so it cannot be an indirect object.
4. Thus this complement has to be a direct object, the only option left.
Then one day shefloored her grandmother (DO)(by asking), "Which virgin was the mother (of Jesus)?
We need to check for another finite verb or verb phrase, which we find in "was."
Then one day shefloored her grandmother(DO)(by asking), "Which virgin was the mother (of Jesus)?
Find the subject of "was" by asking "Who or what was?" The answer here is "virgin."
Then one day shefloored her grandmother(DO)(by asking), "Which virginwas the mother (of Jesus)?
Check for a complement by asking "The virgin was who or what?" The answer to that question is "mother." To determine the type of the complement:
1. Is it a predicate adjective? "Mother" is not an adjective here and does not describe the subject ("virgin"), so it cannot be a predicate adjective.
2. Is it a predicate noun? "Mother" and the subject ("virgin") refer to the same thing, they are "equal." Note that the question is asking which virgin was equal to the mother of Jesus? Thus the complement is a predicate noun.
Then one day shefloored her grandmother (DO)(by asking), "Which virginwas the mother (PN) (of Jesus)?
Next check for another finite verb or verb phrase. There are none so we are finished with this sentence.

Sentence #3

The third sentence is:
The virgin Mary or the King James virgin?"
There are no prepositional phrases, so we look for a finite verb or verb phrase. There are none, which means that what we have is a fragment. Note that the sentence means: ["*" means that the words were ellipsed.]
*Was it* the virgin Mary or the King James virgin?
We now have a finite verb:
*Was it* the virgin Mary or the King James virgin?
Find the subject of "was" by asking "Who or what was?" Since this is a question, the subject ("it") appears after the verb.
*Wasit* the virgin Mary or the King James virgin?
Check for a complement by asking "It was whom or what?" There are two answers to that question, "virgin Mary" and "King James virgin." To determine the type of the complements:
1. Are they predicate adjectives? Neither "virgin Mary" nor "King James virgin" is an adjective and neither describes the subject ("it"), so they cannot be predicate adjectives.
2. Are they predicate nouns? The question is asking which virgin was equal to the mother of Jesus? Thus the complements are both predicate nouns.
*Wasit* the virgin Mary (PN) or the King James virgin (PN)?
Next check for another finite verb or verb phrase. There are none so we are finished with this sentence.
Go to Finding Clauses.