Learn English – How to an intransitive verb have ‘objects’ and ‘complements’

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[Source:] The following description of predicates comes from
The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers (examples our own):

With an intransitive verb, objects and complements are included in the predicate.
(The glacier is melting.)
With a transitive verb, objects and object complements are said to be part of the predicate.
(The slow moving glacier wiped out an entire forest. It gave the villagers a lot of problems.)
With a linking verb, the subject is connected to a subject complement.
(The mayor doesn't feel good.)

By definition, intransitive verbs lack a direct object, but because indirect object => direct object, they lack an indirect object too. So what does the above mean by objects and complements ?

Best Answer

The initial page actually has anchor links for each word, making it easy to see what the web page is trying to convey.

With an intransitive verb, objects and complements are included in the predicate. (The glacier is melting.)

The objects word links to the Direct and Indirect Objects and thus refers to either or both direct objects and indirect objects. This is further a nod to both intransitive verbs, which don't require either, and ditransitive verbs, which can take both at once.

The complements word links to the Complements section and thus refers to words or phrases that complete the sense of a subject, object, or verb.

So, let's bring that back to the sentence and its accompanying example:

  • Not only is the glacier the subject in action (the glacier melts), but also receives said action (the glacier is being melted as a result of its melting).
  • The word melting is a complement that completes the sense of the verb is here, and thus is a verb complement.

In your defense, the page isn't terribly well organized and, as Yuri points out in her comment, suffers from inconsistent nomenclature. I'm pretty sure that you're neither the first nor the last person to be confused by that web page (yeah, it was confusing me for a while too).

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