Describing as well as talking about an action: other verbs with complements

3.156 Some intransitive verbs can be used with adjectives after them in the same way as link verbs.

George stood motionless for at feast a minute.

Pugin died insane at the early age of forty.

However, it is clear that these verbs are not just link verbs. 'George stood motionless' does not mean the same as 'George was motionless'. In the sentence 'George stood motionless', the verb 'stand' is performing two functions: it is telling us that George was standing, and it is also acting as a link verb between 'George' and the complement 'motionless'.

Here is a list of verbs which can be used in this way:

hang lie sit stand ~

gaze stare ~ emerge escape

go pass survive ~ blush

flame gleam glow run ~

be born die return

Ways in which these verbs can be used with complements are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Adjectives are sometimes used in combination with other verbs, but are separated from the main clause by a comma. This use is dealt with in paragraph 8.135.

USAGE NOTE 3.157 You can use adjectives describing states after 'hang', 'lie', 'sit', and 'stand'.

I used to lie awake watching the rain seep through the roof.

A sparrow lies death in the snow.

Francis Marroux sat ashen-faced behind the wheel.

She stood quite still, facing him.

'Gaze' and 'stare' can be used in a similar way with a limited set of adjectives.

She stared at him wide-eyed.

3,158 You can use some combinations of verbs and adjectives to say that something does not happen to someone or something, or that someone does not have something.

'Go', 'pass', 'emerge', 'escape', and 'survive' are often used in combinations like these. The adjectives they combine with are often formed by adding 'un-' to past participles.

Such men often go unrecognised in their lifetime.

I think that on this occasion the guilty should go unpunished.

Here in Soho he passed unnoticed.

Fortunately we all escaped unscathed.

Mostly, they go unarmed.

The children always went naked.

3.159 Verbs such as 'blush', 'flame', 'gleam', 'glow', and 'run' can be used with colour adjectives after them to say what colour something is or what colour it becomes.

They blew into the charcoal until it glowed red.

The trees flamed scarlet against the grass.

3.160 'Die', 'return', and the passive verb 'be born' can have either adjectives or noun groups as complements.

She died young.

He died a disappointed man.

If he had fought in the First World War, he might have returned a slightly different man.

These girls have to work hard because they were born poor.

He was born a slave.

3.161 Some combinations of verb and adjective are fixed phrases. You cannot use the verb in front of any other adjective.

I wanted to travel light.

The children ran wild.

The response 'Oh don't' was wearing thin with use.

Describing the object of a verb: object complements

3.162 Some transitive verbs can have a complement after their object. This complement describes the object, and is often called the object complement.

Willie's jokes made her uneasy.

I find the British legal system extremely complicated.

Some of these verbs are used to say that someone or something is changed or given a new job. Others are used to indicate a person's opinion of someone or something.

For information on how to use these verbs in the passive, see paragraph 10.21.

3.163 If you want to say that someone or something causes a person or thing to have a particular quality, you can use one of a group of transitive verbs, with an adjective as the complement.

He said waltzes made him dizzy.

They're driving me crazy.

Then his captor had knocked him unconscious.

She painted her eyelids deep blue.

He wiped the bottle dry with a dishcloth.

Here is a list of verbs which can be used in this way:

cut drive get knock

make paint pat pick

plane render rub send

shoot sweep turn wipe

Most of these verbs can have only one adjective or a very small range of adjectives as their complement. However 'make' and 'render' can be used with a wide range of adjectives.

3.164 You can also use 'keep', 'hold', and 'leave' transitively with an adjective as complement, to say that someone or something is caused to remain in a particular state.

The light through the thin curtains had kept her awake.

Leave the door open.

Hold it straight.

3.165 If you want to say that someone is given an important job, you can use 'make', 'appoint', 'crown', or 'elect' with a noun group referring to the job as complement.

In 1910 Asquith made him a junior minister.

The noun used as the complement does not usually have a determiner when it refers to a unique job.

Ramsay MacDonald appointed him Secretary of State for India.

verbs of opinion 3.166 Some transitive verbs with the general meaning 'consider' can be used with an adjective or noun group as complement to say what someone's opinion of a person or thing is.

They consider him an embarrassment.

Do you find his view of America interesting?

Here is a list of these verbs:

account believe consider

find hold judge

presume reckon think

'Prove' can also have an adjective or a noun group as a complement, although it means 'show' not 'consider'.

He had proved them all wrong.

3.167 These verbs are often used in the passive. 'Believe', 'presume', 'reckon', and 'think' are nearly always used in the passive in these structures.

In many ways the gathering could be considered successful.

30 bombers were believed shot down.

3.168 All the verbs listed in paragraph 3.166 except 'account' can also be used with a 'to'-infinitive clause after their object indicating what someone thinks a person or thing is like or does.

She had always considered George Garforth to be a very presentable young man.

see paragraph 3.207 for information about using a 'to'-infinitive clause after the object of these verbs.

3.169 You can use the verbs listed in 3.166 with 'it' as their object followed by a complement and a 'to'-infinitive clause to show someone's opinion of an action. For example, instead of saying 'She found breathing difficult', you can say 'She found it difficult to breathe'.

Gretchen found it difficult to speak.

He thought it right to resign.

He considered it his duty to go.

These are examples of 'it' being used in an impersonal way. For more information about the impersonal use of 'it', see paragraphs 10.31 to 10.45.

describing and naming 3.170 If you want to say that people use a particular word, word group, or name to describe or refer to someone or something, you can use the word, word group, or name as the complement of one of a group of transitive verbs.

People who did not like him called him dull.

They called him an idiot.

Everyone called her Molly.

He got his trial and was declared innocent.

They named the place 'Tumbo Kutu'.

Here is a list of verbs which can be used in this way. The first group can have an adjective as their complement; the second group can have a noun group as their complement; and the third group can have a name as their complement.

call certify declare label

pronounce term ~ brand

call declare designate label

proclaim term ~ call

christen dub name nickname

3.171 The passive verbs 'be entitled', 'be headed', and 'be inscribed' are used with a title or inscription as their complement.

Her pamphlets were boldly headed: 'Hungry Relief Fund'.

3.172 A few transitive verbs can be used with an adjective as their complement to say that someone or something is in a particular state when something happens to them, or is preferred to be in that state.

More than forty people were burned alive.

...a soup which can be served cold.

They found it dead.

Do you want it white or black?

Here is a list of verbs which can be used in this way:

born eat find

leave like prefer

serve show want

Sometimes a past participle or a present participle describing a state is used as the complement.

She found herself caught in a vicious tidal current.

Maureen came in and found Kate sitting on a straight chair staring at the window.

This participle structure is like a phase structure. See paragraphs 3.205 and 3.213.