Identifying Direct, Indirect & Objective Complements Answer Key
How Objective Complements Identify or Modify Direct Objects • Interactive Self-Check
What Is an Objective Complement and How Does It Differ from Direct & Indirect Objects?
An objective complement is a word or word group (a noun, pronoun, or adjective) that helps complete the meaning of a transitive verb by identifying or modifying the direct object. In Exercise 6 of Chapter 2, you must distinguish among all three complements of transitive action verbs:
Example: The photograph below shows an art installation in New York City's Central Park.
Example: These outdoor installations give visitors a new way of experiencing a sometimes familiar place.
Example: Would you consider a series of 7,503 fabric-draped metal gates art? • ...years of planning finally made The Gates a reality.
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Important Notice for Students, Parents, and Educators: This comprehensive grammar guide and interactive answer key is published strictly for educational help, academic support, self-checking, and concept mastery—NOT for cheating or copying homework. Study the objective complement rules below, identify all direct objects, indirect objects, and objective complements in Exercise 6 on your own first, and then click Click to Show Answer below each item to check your work.
Complete Lesson Explanation: Objective Complements (Rule 2j)
Rule 2j: An objective complement is a complement that helps complete the meaning of a transitive verb by identifying or modifying the direct object.
An objective complement may be a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, or a word group that functions as a noun or an adjective.
1. Textbook Model Breakdowns (Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives & Word Groups as Objective Complements)
— Did the stockholders elect Sara Gardner president and chief executive officer?
— Lack of ventilation made the workroom hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable.
{alertSuccess}Important Textbook NOTE — The "Consider or Make" Verb Test:
Only a few transitive verbs take objective complements. These verbs are consider, make, and any verbs that can be replaced by consider or make, such as:
appoint • believe • call • choose • color • cut • dye • elect • find • keep • name • paint • render • sweep
• Example 1: The referee called [or considered] the line drive foul. (Foul is the objective complement.)
• Example 2: The Supreme Court's 1954 decision rendered [or made] the segregation of public schools unlawful. (Unlawful is the objective complement.)
{alertInfo}Tips & Tricks + Style Tip (Inverted Objective Complements):
• Prerequisite Rule: Remember that a sentence cannot have an objective complement unless the sentence has a direct object.
• Inverted Position for Emphasis: Objective complements generally come after the direct object, near the end of a clause. However, for emphasis, a writer may place the objective complement before the subject, verb, and direct object:
Example: How interesting and pleasant the tour guide made our visit to the cliff dwellings! (The adjectives interesting and pleasant modify the direct object visit.)
{alertWarning}Watch Out for Objects of Gerunds & Infinitives in Exercise 6 (Items 3 & 5):
In Item 3 ("...give visitors a new way of experiencing a sometimes familiar place"), the Teacher's Edition also underlines place because it is the direct object of the gerund experiencing! Similarly, in Item 5 ("...to install and uninstall it"), it is the object of the infinitives, while tons, miles, feet, and workers are the four compound direct objects of the main verb required.
Exercise 6: Identifying Direct Objects, Indirect Objects, and Objective Complements (Items 1–10)
Directions: Identify each direct object, indirect object, and objective complement in the following sentences.
Answer: 1. installation—direct object
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- series — direct object (Receives the action of the verb phrase Would consider; note that of 7,503 fabric-draped metal gates is a prepositional phrase modifying series.)
- art — objective complement (Noun that identifies/renames the direct object series after the verb Would consider.)
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- works — direct object (Answers "includes what?" → works. There is no indirect object or objective complement.)
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- visitors — indirect object (Tells to whom the installations give a new way.)
- way — direct object (Receives the action of the transitive verb give.)
- place — direct object (of the gerund experiencing) (Underlined as a direct object in the Teacher's Edition key.)
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- landscapes, structures — compound direct object (Answers "have transformed what?" → landscapes and structures.)
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- tons, miles, feet, workers — compound direct object (All four nouns receive the action of the verb required; note that of steel, of nylon thread, and of vinyl tubing are prepositional phrases.)
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- The Gates — direct object (Receives the action of the transitive verb made.)
- reality — objective complement (Noun that identifies/renames the direct object The Gates after the verb made.)
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- fame — direct object (Answers "gained what?" → fame.)
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- building, bridge — compound direct object (Answers "covered what?" → building and bridge.)
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- Christo, Jeanne-Claude — compound indirect object (Appears before the direct object reputation, telling for whom the projects have earned a reputation.)
- reputation — direct object (Answers "have earned what?" → reputation.)
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- reach — direct object (Receives the action of the first verb expands.)
- definition — direct object (Receives the action of the second verb expands.)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Look at the relationship between the two nouns after the verb: in Item 6, The Gates and reality refer to the same thing (The Gates = a reality), so The Gates is the direct object and reality is the objective complement renaming it. In Item 9, Christo and Jeanne-Claude and reputation do not refer to the same thing; instead, the projects earned a reputation [direct object] for Christo and Jeanne-Claude [compound indirect object].
In Item 1, the phrase "of 7,503 fabric-draped metal gates" is a prepositional phrase modifying the noun series. Because the object of a preposition is never a complement, the noun series is the direct object, and the noun art is the objective complement identifying series.
Yes! Unlike indirect objects (which must be nouns or pronouns), an objective complement can be either a noun/pronoun that identifies the direct object (e.g., "made Miles Davis a knight") or an adjective that modifies the direct object (e.g., "painted the new house blue" or "made the workroom hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable").