Subject Complements - English Grammar with Jennifer

Hi there. I'm Jennifer from English with  Jennifer, and did you know I just gave you  

your first example of a subject compliment?  I am Jennifer. We have "I" as the subject,  

"am" is the linking verb, and then "Jennifer."  "Jennifer" is equivalent to "I." Who am I?  

I'm Jennifer. Jennifer defines who  I am. It's the subject complement.

A subject complement is necessary  because it completes the subject.  

The sentence structure is:  subject + verb + complement.

Subject complements are often nouns: proper nouns  and common nouns. I am Jennifer. I'm a teacher.  

I'm a teacher and a mother.

I'm a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We  can also, though not often, have a pronoun  

as a subject complement. Do you know the polite  way to confirm your identity over the phone?  

Someone asks, "May I speak to Jennifer,  please?" "Speaking," or, "This is she.."  

This is she: subject + linking verb + complement.  How would you complete these sentences?

You may hear the term "predicate nominative"  or "predicate nominative," which is hard  

to say and hard to remember. It just means  that the subject complement is a noun. So,  

guess what a predicate adjective is? It's  a subject complement that is an adjective.

You're smart. Social media is useful.  Social media is incredibly useful.

The subject complement can  be a single word adjective  

or an adjective with other words modifying it.

Whether it's long or short, this kind of  subject complement describes the subject.

All subject complements follow a linking verb.  The most common linking verb is "be," but  

there are others including: become, appear,  seem, look, smell, taste, sound, grow, get.

How would you complete these  sentences? The soup smells...

delicious, wonderful, yummy. Aaron looks...

upset, worried, distressed. When you do the same  thing day in and day out, it's easy to grow...

bored, restless. Besides nouns and adjectives,  

it's also possible to see other kinds  of subject complements. Take a look.

His favorite hobby is gaming.

Her dream is to visit Alaska.

My most embarrassing moment was when  I showed up at the wrong dinner party.

Prepositional phrases can also be subject  complements, especially set phrases or idioms,  

for example: The patient was in a coma.  

I was feeling under the weather. She must be  out of her mind. You seem a little out of it.

How would you finish these sentences?  We'll end here. Please like the video  

if you found it useful. As always,  thanks for watching and happy studies!

Learn more about complements. Bonus  videos on adjective complements  

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