Verbs of incomplete predication
Look at the following sentences:
- He writes.
- He looks upset.
The sentence He writes makes complete sense. But if you say, He looks the sense is incomplete. You have to supply a word like upset (or tired, sad, happy, cheerful etc.) to make the sense complete. Looks is therefore a verb of incomplete predication. The word upset which completes the meaning of the sentence is called the complement of the verb.
Other examples of verbs of incomplete predication are: is, am, are, was, were, turn, grow, appear, look, taste etc.
- The sky grew dark.
- The milk turned sour.
- The fished tasted awful.
- She is intelligent.
- He seems upset.
Sections in this article
PhrasesPrepositional phrases
Appositives
Verbal phrases
Participle phrases
Infinitive phrases
Gerund phrases
See also
Adverb clauses
Adjective clauses
Noun clauses
Transformation of sentences
See also
Common mistakes in the use of nouns
Common mistakes in the use of nouns | Exercise 1
Common mistakes in the use of nouns | Exercise 2
Common mistakes in the use of nouns | Exercise 3
More CBSE English Grammar worksheets
Passive voice worksheet | Simple past tensePassive voice worksheet | Past continuous tense
Passive voice worksheet | Simple future tense
Passive voice worksheet | Future perfect tense