Chapter XXXVII: Objective Complement

=138.= In the sentence, “The boys called the turtles Harry Blake’s sheep,” the verb is followed by two noun elements. What are they? The second element is not an appositive of the first, neither have we here a direct and an indirect object. Prove this.

If we ask the question, _What_ did the boys call Harry Blake’s sheep? the answer is, _the turtles_; hence this must be the direct object of _called_. But the sentence is not complete here. We do not mean that the boys _called_ the turtles, that is, _summoned_ them. We mean that they _named_ the turtles. If we ask the question, “What did the boys call the turtles?” the answer is, “_Harry Blake’s sheep_.” This group of words is necessary as a second complement of the verb, and at the same time it tells what the turtles became as a result of calling, or naming, them. Such an element is called an =objective complement=, because it tells something about the direct object.

The base word of an objective complement is in the objective case.

=139.= Not all transitive verbs take an objective complement; but only verbs of making or causing, such as _make_, _call_, _name_, _elect_, _appoint_, _choose_.

=140.= Sometimes the objective complement has an adjective for its base word instead of a noun; as, “The great wood-fire in the tiled chimney place made our sitting room _very cheerful_ of winter nights.”

=Summary.=—An =objective complement= is a word or a group of words that helps to complete the verb, and tells what the direct object becomes as a result of the action asserted by the verb.

The base word of an objective complement may be either a noun or an adjective.

=Exercise.=—Find all the objective complements in the following sentences and tell about them in this way:—

MODEL.—_Ben called this room his cabin._

_His cabin_ is a noun element used as objective complement of the verb _called_, because it tells what the direct object, _this room_, becomes as a result of the calling. The base word of this objective complement is the noun _cabin_.

1. His blue beard made him so ugly and so terrible in
appearance that women and children fled from him.

2. She kept the cottage always as neat as a new pin.

3. By much trampling we had made the salt marsh a mere quagmire.

4. This mother, proud of her knowledge of French, always called
her little daughter Mademoiselle.

5. If ever I have a boy to bring up in the way he should go, I
shall make Sunday a cheerful day to him.

6. To the great amusement of my grandfather, Sailor Ben painted
the cottage a light sky-blue.

7. Then, inch by inch, the untempered heat crept into the heart
of the Jungle, turning it yellow, brown, and at last black.

8. The fish had buried themselves deep in the dry mud.

9. The natives of Bermuda call the tamarisk the “salt-cedar.”

10. Nature meant him for a frontiersman, but circumstances made
him an innkeeper.

11. The only way that they could set the king’s head straight
was to remove it.

12. Columbus rechristened the island San Salvador, but its
precise identity has always been a little doubtful.

13. A parrot would shriek me wild in a week.

14. Skin changing always makes a snake moody and depressed till
the new skin begins to shine and look beautiful.

15. The giver makes the gift precious.

16. The sound of a bell struck the merrymakers dumb.

17. Who appointed you judge of your brother?

18. The dim light of stars rendered large objects near at hand
visible in bulk and outline.

19. We call domestic animals dependent creatures; but who made
them dependent?