Completing the Subject Profile
6.5 🧩 Completing the Subject Profile
Learn about Subject Complements—the words following linking verbs that describe or rename the subject to complete the thought.
🗺️ Two Types of Subject Complements
┌───────────────────────────┐
│ SUBJECT COMPLEMENT │
│ (Completes the profile) │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
│
┌────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
[ 🎨 PREDICATE ADJECTIVE ] [ 🏷️ PREDICATE NOUN ]
• Describes the subject’s quality • Renames or identifies the subject
• Pattern: Subject + Link + Adjective • Pattern: Subject + Link + Noun
• Example: The engine is quiet. • Example: Mr. Lee is the director.
📝 Real-World Examples Explained
1. Predicate Adjective Profile
“The network connection is unstable.”
- unstable (Predicate Adjective): Modifies and describes the subject network connection.
2. Predicate Noun Profile
“Cybersecurity remains an essential priority for our company.”
- essential priority (Predicate Noun Phrase): Renames and re-identifies the subject Cybersecurity.
🚫 Common Mistakes: Correct vs. Incorrect
1. Confusing Predicate Nouns with Direct Objects
❌ Statement: “Mark is an engineer.”
Mistake: Calling an engineer a direct object.
Correction: An engineer is a predicate noun (subject complement) because is links Mark to his identity. Mark is not performing an action on an engineer!
✏️ Quick Quiz: Identify the Complement Type!
Is the bolded subject complement a Predicate Adjective or a Predicate Noun?
- “The software update was successful.”
- “She became the chief executive officer.”
🔑 Quiz Answers
- Question 1: Predicate Adjective (successful describes the update).
- Question 2: Predicate Noun (chief executive officer renames she).