Hi Patty,
In traditional grammar, be is classified as a linking
verb. That system leaves out sentences like Peter's second one,
"Deb was in her car," where what follows be is
an adverbial.
This is a pattern that , in my grammar book, I identify as
"NP be ADV/TP"--where be is followed by an
adverbial of time or place, rather than by a subject complement.
Such adverbials are often prepositional phrases. Here are some
other examples:
Deb
was there.
The
car is here now.
The
party will be tomorrow.
The
election was on Tuesday.
These "completers" of the predicate don't describe or
rename the subject, as Peter's first example does. "Cornelia was
in a bad mood" is another way of saying "Cornelia was
cranky." I suppose you could call the adverbial completers
complements, but they aren't subject complements as adjectivals and
nominals are.
And note too that the adverbials that complete be
sentences are limited to time or place; adverbials of manner, for
example, don't work here. It's not that we can't say "Deb
was quickly"--it's just that we don't.
Martha
Sincere question, here:
Would it be OK/accurate to say that, in the first sentence, "in a
bad mood"
is a prepositional phrase functioning adjectivally, where in the
second
sentence, "in her car" is more of an adverbial function?
Tell the truth, I'm not sure how to classify "location" as a
subject
complement.
My thinking is: how would I explain this to students, who might not
have had
the exposure to this grammar list?
-patty
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Adams
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Prepositional Phrases as Subject Complements
How would you categorize the prep phrase, "in a bad mood,"
in a
sentence like the following?
Cornelia was in a bad mood.
How about the prep phrase "in her car" in the following
sentence?
Deb was in her car.
Peter Adams
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