Lecture 5: Required and Optional Elements (Complements and Adjuncts)

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Learning outcomes

• define complement and adjunct
• separate required elements from optional modifiers
• test sentence completeness using deletion check

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Sentence element idea

• Subject
• Verb
• Essential completion (when needed)

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Complement (required)

• A complement completes meaning required by verb.
• Removing it can make sentence ungrammatical or incomplete.

• “She became a doctor.” (a doctor = complement)
• “They put the books on the table.” (location phrase required by put)

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Adjunct (optional)

• Adds extra information (time/place/manner/reason) but not structurally required.
• Removing adjunct usually leaves grammatical core sentence.

• “She spoke clearly.”
• “We met after class.”

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Deletion test (exam-friendly)

• sentence breaks/incomplete -> likely complement
• sentence still complete -> likely adjunct

• “She is in the lab.” -> remove in the lab gives “She is.” (often incomplete in intended meaning)
• “She reads in the lab.” -> remove in the lab gives “She reads.” (complete)

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Exam hints and traps

• Not all prepositional phrases are adjuncts; some are complements.
• Meaning and verb valency matter, not only phrase form.
• In school-level grammar, location after put is usually treated essential.

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Quick practice

1. “He placed the bag on the chair.”
2. “They discussed the topic in detail.”
3. “She became an engineer.”
4. “We met in the evening.”

1. Complement (required by placed/put pattern)
2. Adjunct
3. Complement
4. Adjunct