Delahunty and Garvey
b. Scott and Zelda painted the door. (Pattern 2)
(112)a. Weskin’s false predictions proved him a hoax.
b. Weskin’s false predictions proved his undoing. (Pattern 3)There are many idiomatic constructions that involve an AP object comple-
ment. Some of these appear in Table 3, where X denotes a variable direct
object. (This should be familiar to you from our discussion of object comple-
ments as VP in our chapter on Phrases.) As will be clear, nearly all these ex-
pressions indicate the notion of CAUSE TO BECOME.
cut the story short cut X short
drain X dry make X plain
leave X clean make X clear
make X possible pack X tight
push X open put X straight
shake X free slam X shut
table 3. some idiomatic object complement expressions
Exercise
(a) Identify the (whole) object and object complement phrases in each
of the following clauses. (b) Using one appropriate criterion, prove that
the phrase you identified as the object complement really is an object
complement. (c) Draw both Reed/Kellogg and structural diagrams for
each clause.
a. Oscar slammed the door shut.
b. The president appointed Wilson Secretary of the Navy.
c. Sharon painted her room lime green.
d. The preacher declared them husband and wife.
Basic clause pattern 5: double object (indirect object and direct
object)
This basic clause pattern again involves a head verb followed by two func-
tions, as in:
(113)a. Subject Verb Head Indirect Object Direct Object
b. William gave Susie roses
c. William gave roses
Susie