A noun complement is a word or construction that serves the syntactical function of modifying a noun. For example : Gabriel’s car is of very good quality. (“car” is the noun and “Gabriel’s” is the noun complement)
Furthermore, these complements serve to provide information about the noun they modify, because they specify or complete its meaning. For example: The wooden box is prettier than the plastic box . In this case, the complements (“wooden” and “plastic”) allow us to identify and differentiate the nouns (the boxes).
Names are nouns , that is, words that refer to people, objects, animals and ideas and that can fulfill the syntactic function of the subject nucleus, the preposition term , the direct object , the apposition , the attribute , the predicative complement , the nominal non-verbal predicate and some circumstantial ones .
- It may be useful to you: Noun complements
Types of noun complement
Different types of complements can be added to a name:
- Adjective phrases. These are adjectives or constructions whose head is an adjective. In syntactic analysis, they are designated as SAdj-CN (adjective phrase-noun complement). For example:The yellow tiled house is very pretty. (“tejas” is the noun and “amarillas” is the noun complement).
- Prepositional phrases. These are constructions consisting of a preposition followed by a term, which can be a noun phrase, an adjectival phrase, or an adverbial phrase . In syntactic analysis, they are referred to as SP-CN (prepositional phrase-noun complement). Some grammarians consider this to be the only noun complement, and the others are adjacent. For example: My neighbor’s house has a swimming pool. (“house” is the noun and “my neighbor’s” is the noun complement)
- Noun phrases. These are nouns , pronouns , substantive words, or constructions whose nucleus is a noun, a pronoun, or a substantive word. In syntactic analysis, they serve the function of apposition , which can be:
- Explanatory apposition. It is found between commas and provides additional information. In syntactic analysis, it is designated as NP-Apos exp (noun phrase-explanatory apposition). For example:Juan, the French teacher , is doing a postgraduate degree in language teaching.(“Juan” is the name and “French teacher” is the name complement).
- Specifying apposition. It is not found between commas and provides information that allows the noun to be identified or restricted. In syntactic analysis, it is referred to as NP-Apos esp (noun phrase-specifying apposition). For example: My aunt Analía lives in the south of Chile. (“aunt” is the name and “Analía” is the name complement)
- Relative subordinate clauses with antecedent. These are subclauses introduced by a relative clause (that, which, who, whose, where, how, how much, when), which function similarly to an adjective and whose antecedent is always mentioned. In syntactic analysis, they are referred to as OSR-CN (relative subordinate clause-complement of a noun). There are two types of relative subordinate clauses with antecedent:
- Explanatory. These are enclosed in commas and provide additional information. For example: The employees, who live close to the office , always arrive on time for meetings. (“employees” is the noun and “who live near the office” is the noun complement)
- Specific. These aren’t enclosed in commas and add restrictive information. For example:Employees who live close to the office always arrive on time for meetings. (“employees” is the noun and “who live near the office” is the noun complement)
Examples of noun complements
The name is in italics and the name complement is highlighted in bold .
Noun complement – adjectival phrase
- They bought a very big house.
- The white lampilluminates the entire room.
- German is an excellent student.
- Paella is a traditional dishfrom Spain.
- Herbivorousdinosaurs had special teeth for tearing off branches and grinding them.
- Presidential electionswill be held in August .
- At the Japanese restaurant, the service is excellent.
- This is a very interesting book.
- The captain acknowledged that he had never before sailed in such a turbulent sea.
- According to specialists, there are solutions that allow us to confront the economic crisis.
Noun complement – prepositional phrase
- The customer ordered a coffee with milk.
- The prize of the raffleis a trip to Madrid .
- My brother’s dogis named Mars.
- At the theater, they canceled the Saturday performance.
- The writer’s bookwill be published in September.
- The bus ridewas very peaceful.
- Paris is the capital of France.
- I like still waterbetter .
- The team memberselected a new captain.
- The view from the windowis beautiful.
Noun complement – noun phrase – explanatory apposition
- My favorite food is ramen, a Japanese soup .
- William Shakespeare, the author of Hamlet , was born in 1564.
- Tango , a musical style from Argentina , is known in manyplaces around the world.
- Analía, my neighbor , started a virtual cooking course.
- January, the hottest month of summer, has 31 days.
- Ice cream, my favorite dessert , should not be thawed before serving.
- Eugenia, the company’s president , will not be coming to the office today.
- Bolognese ,a sauce of Italian origin , should be cooked for two to four hours over low heat.
- They live in Recoleta, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires .
- Bogotá, the capital of Colombia , is a very beautiful and interesting city.
Noun complement – noun phrase – specifying apposition
- The diesel engineruns very well.
- The Louvre Museumis located in Paris.
- Governor Pérezannounced new measures .
- Representative López voted infavor of the law.
- Ebenezer Placeis the shortest street in the world.
- My cousin Santiagolives in Guatemala.
- The Duero Riveris located in Spain.
- My friend Jimenabought a gray car.
- The movie Titanicmade a lot of money.
- King Arthur is a legendary
Noun complement – explanatory relative subordinate clauses
- Jimena, who lives in Madrid , will come to visit us next summer.
- The car, whose trunk is very small, does not fit many suitcases.
- Jimena, whom I met at university , is working in the city center.
- Madonna, whose full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone , is the queen of pop.
- My cousin, who lived in London for 15 years , speaks English perfectly.
- The prince, who will become king in a few years , answered almost all the questions at the press conference.
- The yellow house , where my parents live, is the prettiest in the neighborhood.
- The dog, who was playing all afternoon , is sleeping at the back of the garden.
- The history teacher , who knows a lot about cinema, recommended documentaries to us.
- Enzo, who really likes football , goes to the field every Sunday.
Noun complement – specifying relative subordinate clauses
- The football match will be played in the stadium where concerts are usually held.
- The internet company will give a month of free service to customers who had connection problems for more than a week.
- They will demolish the house where I grew upto build a building.
- The store located downtownis offering great discounts.
- The actors who starred in this filmwon many awards.
- Students who pass the English examwill receive an internationally certified diploma.
- The park that has a lake in the centeris in my neighborhood.
- Boxes containing cell phonesmust be sealed and packed before shipping them to the store.
- The shoes I bought yesterdayseem very uncomfortable to me.
- The company will compensate people whose flights were cancelled without prior notice.




