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verb complement

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 5:24 am
by hanuman_2000
Sir,

What is a verb complement?


His greatest pleasure is to sing.

here "to sing" is verb complement.

Thanks.

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:31 am
by Alan
Yes, although 'complemental infinitive' is a less ambiguous term.

complement

Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 8:09 am
by hanuman_2000
Sir,

I am re-writing my sentence

His greatest desire is to sing.


Here the 'to sing' is describing the noun desire.

So "to sing' functions here as subject complement.

is it correct?

Thanks.

Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:13 am
by Alan
As explained elsewhere, the terms 'subject complement' and 'verb complement' (i.e. in the sense 'complement TO a verb') are not mutually exclusive. Where the verb is a form of the copula, one complement will usually be both.