Writing 2 – Grammar Lesson 23: Object Complements
Exercise 1: Classify each sentence. These sentences contain object complements, which are a
mix of patterns 6 and 7 : OCN (object complement noun) and OCA (object complement adjective).
1. Bad TV habits can make a person lazy.
2. The committee named Beth head of the litter campaign.
3. The judges declared Kristi the winner of the skating competition.
4. No one in the kindergarten class colored his pumpkin orange!
5. My little sister gleefully painted the wall pink.
6. The cheerleaders named little Amanda their cheerleading mascot.
7. Did the English teacher believe Julius Caesar a villain?
8. Did at contractor build the skyscraper too tall?
9. Call me your best friend.
10. Kristen always packs her suitcase full.
Exercise 2: Identify the appositives and place commas where they should appear.
1. Arteries vessels which carry blood away from the heart are part of the circulatory system.
2. My sister and I saw the world’s largest dog an Irish wolfhound.
3. Elephants the world’s largest land animals can weigh more than thirteen thousand pounds.
4. My students read about Paul Bunyan one of America’s folklore heroes during the summer.
5. The wild wolverine a ferocious fighter attacked the bobcat.
6. Chris our lawyer told us the bad news.
7. Joel proudly drove off in his new truck a Chevy Silverado.
8. In the evenings Tom my husband walks the dogs with me.
9. We invited the Coppins our good friends to lunch.
10. Mark Twain the great humorist was an American writer.
11. Many books were written about Daniel Boone a great frontiersman.
12. Sir Francis Drake a famous sea hawk was one of England’s most courageous heroes.
Exercise 3: Classify only the main parts of these sentences. They are a mixed review of all seven
patterns. Write the number of the pattern in the blank.
Pattern l
Pattern 2
Pattern 3
Pattern 4
Pattern 5
Pattern 6
Pattern 7
(SN + V)
(SN + V + DO)
(SN + V + IO + DO)
(SN + LV + PrN)
(SN + LV + PrA)
(SN + V + DO + OCN) Object Complement Noun
(SN + V + DO + OCA) Object Complement Adjective
________1. Several plump robins searched diligently for juicy worms in my back yard.
________2. For my birthday my generous parents gave me the most important item on my list.
________3. Quickly Jocelyn and her little brother led the five horses into the barn.
________4. Four very excited fans were irate after the referee's call!
________5. Can that history teacher make this class interesting to his students?
________6. My two cousins in El Paso are students at Coronado High School.
________7. After an exciting election John Conner named Sarah Warren chairman of the committee.
Exercise 4: Identity each pronoun as indefinite or personal (I, P) and as singular or plural (S, P)
Underline your choices:
1. we ( I or P) (S or P)
2. each
(I or P) (S or P)
3. everybody (I or P) (S or P)
4. they (I or P) (S or P)
5. she (I or P) (S or P)
6. either
7. both
8. it
(I or P) (S or P)
(I or P) (S or P)
(I or P) (S or P)
Exercise 5: Identify each verb as regular (R) or irregular (I) in the blank. Then write its past tense.
1. cook __________
3. break __________ 5. help __________ 7. agree __________
2. swim __________
4. run __________
6. think __________ 8. buy ___________