Complements

Exploring Nouns as Subjects or Objects and Subject/Object Complements

What is a Noun?

Nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas. They are the building blocks of sentences.

Imagine a bustling school cafeteria. In this scenario, 'students' and 'lunch' are nouns.

Nouns as Subjects

In a sentence, the subject is the noun that performs the action or about whom the action is taking place.

Example: My dog loves to chase squirrels in the backyard.
In this sentence, the noun serving as the subject is 'dog'.

Nouns as Objects

In a sentence, the object is the noun that receives the action or is affected by the action.

Example: The sun sets in the west every evening, casting a warm glow on the city.

The noun serving as the object is 'city' and the noun serving as the subject is 'sun'.

Multiple Choice

Identify whether the underlined noun is acting as the subject or object in the sentence.

The dog barked loudly in the park.

• Object

• Subject

Multiple Choice

Which of the following sentences correctly uses a noun as a subject?

• In the garden, blooms the flowers.

• The flowers bloom in the garden.

Match

Identify the role of the underlined noun: Subject or Object

• The moon shines brightly at night.

• The bird watches the worm.

• She hugged her friend tightly.

• Many people admire the painting for its beauty

• The girl enjoys reading novels

Subject

Object

Object

Object

Subject

• Subject

• Object

• Object

• Object

• Subject

Drag and Drop

​Fill in the blanks with the nouns as subject and object appropriately:

Placeholder

was greatly celebrated because they had won against ​

Placeholder

.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

victory

the champions

The team

the match

Multiple Choice

Which of the underlined words in the sentences correctly uses a noun as an object?

• The boy chases the ball.

• The boy chases the ball.

Multiple Choice

Identify whether the underlined noun is acting as the subject or object in the sentence.

I enjoy reading books in my free time.

• Object

• Subject

Subject Complements

Subject complements give additional information about the subject in a sentence.

Example: The cake smells delicious.
Here, "delicious" is the subject complement and it describes additional information about the subject (the cake).

Object Complements

An object complement is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that follows and modifies or refers to the direct object.

Example: They elected him president

Here, president is a noun acting as an object complement.

Additional insights

Subject and object complements are mostly formed from nouns, but they are not limited to them. Other parts of speech like adjectives, adverbs and prepositions also form phrases that act as subject and object complements.

Example: The juice tastes quite sour.

Here, 'quite sour' is acting as an subject complement and is an adjective phrase.

Different Roles of Nouns in Sentences

Multiple Choice

Identify the subject complement in the sentence.

1. The flowers in the garden smelled fragrant.

• fragrant
• smelled
• garden
• flowers

Drag and Drop

In the sentence "The sky is blue," the subject complement is ​

Placeholder

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

blue

The sky

is

Multiple Choice

What is the role of an object complement in a sentence?

• • To provide more information about the subject.

• • To receive the action of the verb directly.

• • To complete the meaning of a direct object by identifying or describing it.

• • To indicate the location of the action.

Multiple Choice

Identify the object complement in the sentence.

1. The students found the math problem challenging.

• math

• the students
• found
• challenging

Dropdown

Choose the option that correctly completes the sentence as an object complement.

The audience found the play __________.

Select answer

Match

Match the underlined word with the correct option.

• The cake is delicious.

• The team named Mark captain.

• She called the painting a masterpiece

• The children made their beds neatly

Subject complement

Object complement

Object complement

Neither

• Subject complement

• Object complement

• Object complement

• Neither

We learned that...

A noun can be used as: subject, object, subject complements, or object complements in a sentence.

Examples:

1. The students enjoyed the field trip. (Noun as subject)

2. We visited the museum during our vacation. (Noun as object)

3. She seems like a talented musician. (Noun as subject complement)

4. I find the idea fascinating. (Noun as object complement)