HEAD, COMPLEMENTS, AND MODIFIERS

Chapter 5

Head, Complements, and Modifiers

4.1.1 Internal vs. External Syntax

As we have seen in the previous chapters, both syntactic categories (NP, AP, VP, PP, etc.) and
grammatical functions (subject, complement, and modifier) play important roles in the analysis of
English sentences. We have also observed that the grammatical function and form of each constituent
depend on where it occurs or what it combines with.

The combinatory properties of words and phrases involve two aspects of syntax: internal and external
syntax.

Internal syntax deals with how a given phrase itself is constructed in a well-formed manner whereas
external syntax is concerned with how a phrase can be used in a larger construction.

Observe the following examples:

(1) a. *John [put his gold].

b. *John [put under the bathtub].

c. *John [put his gold safe].

d. *John [put his gold to be under the bathtub].

e. John [put his gold under the bathtub].

Why is only (1e) acceptable? Simply, because only it satisfies the condition that the verb put selects an
NP and a PP as its complements, and it combines with them in the VP. In the other examples, this
condition is not fulfilled. This combinatory requirement starts from the internal (or lexical) properties of
the verb put, and is not related to any external properties of the VP.

In contrast, the external syntax is concerned with the external environment in which a phrase occurs.
Some of the unacceptable examples in (1) can be legitimate expressions if they occur in the proper
(syntactic) context.

(2) a. This is the box in which John [put his gold]. (cf. (1a))

b. This is the gold that John [put under the bathtub]. (cf. (1b))
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Meanwhile, the well-formed VP in (1e) can be unacceptable, depending on external contexts. For
example, consider frame induced by the governing verb kept in (3):

(3) a. *The king kept [put his gold under the bathtub].

b. The king kept [putting his gold under the bathtub].

The VP put his gold under the bathtub is a well-formed phrase, but cannot occur in (3a) since this is not
the environment where such a finite VP occurs. That is, the verb kept requires the presence of a
gerundive VP like putting his gold under the bathtub, and therefore imposes an external constraint on
VPs.

4.1.2 Notion of Head, Complements, and Modifiers

One important property we observe in English phrase-internal syntax is that in building up any phrase,
there is one obligatory element in each phrase. That is, each phrase has one essential element as
represented in the diagrams in (4):

The circled element here is the essential, obligatory element within the given phrase. We call this
essential element the head of the phrase.2 The head of each phrase thus determines its ‘projection’ into
a larger phrasal constituent. The head of an NP is thus N, the head of a VP is V, and the head of an AP is
A.

The notion of headedness plays an important role in the grammar. For example, the verb put,
functioning as the head of a VP, dictates what it must combine with – two complements, NP and PP.
Consider other examples:

(4) a. The defendant denied the accusation.

b. *The defendant denied.

(5) a. The teacher handed the student a book.

b. *The teacher handed the student.

The verb denied here requires an NP object whereas handed requires two NP complements, in this use.
The properties of the head verb itself determine what kind of elements it will combine with. As noted in
the previous chapter, the elements which a head verb should combine with are called complements.
The complements include direct object, indirect object, predicative complement, and oblique
complement since these are all potentially required by some verb or other.
 HEAD, COMPLEMENTS, AND MODIFIERS

The properties of the head become properties of the whole phrase. Why are the examples in (7b) and
(8b) ungrammatical?

(6) a. They [want to leave the meeting].

b. *They [eager to leave the meeting].

(7) a. The senators [know that the president is telling a lie].

b. *The senators [certain that the president is telling a lie].

The examples in (7b) and (8b) are unacceptable because of the absence of the required head. The
unacceptable examples lack a finite (tensed) VP as the bracketed part, but we know that English
sentences require a finite VP as their immediate constituent, as informally represented as in (9):

(8) English Declarative Sentence Rule:

Each declarative sentence must contain a finite VP as its head.

Each finite VP is headed by a finite verb. If we amend the ungrammatical examples above to include a
verb but not a finite one, they are still ungrammatical:

(9) a. *they [(to) be eager to leave the meeting].

b. *The senators [(to) be certain that the president is telling a lie].

The VP is considered to be the (immediate) head of the sentence, with the verb itself as the head of the
VP. In this way, we can talk about a finite or non-finite sentence, one which is ultimately headed by a

finite or nonfinite verb, respectively.3

In addition to the complements of a head, a phrase may also contain modifiers (or also called adjuncts):

(10) a. Tom [VP [VP offered advice to his students] in his office].

b. Tom [VP [VP offered advice to his students] with love].

The PPs in his office or with love here provide further information about the action described by the
verb, but are not required as such by the verb. These phrases are optional and function as modifiers, and
they function to augment the minimal phrase projected from the head verb offered. The VP which
includes this kind of modifier forms a maximal phrase. We might say that the inner VP here forms a
‘minimal’ VP which includes all the ‘minimally’ required complements, and the outer VP is the ‘maximal’
VP which includes optional modifiers.

What we have seen can be summarized as follows:

(11) a. Head: A lexical or phrasal element that is essential in forming a phrase.

b. Complement: A phrasal element that a head must combine with or a head select. These
include direct object, indirect object, predicative complement, and oblique complement.

c. Modifier: A phrasal element not selected by the verb functions as a modifier to the head
phrase.

d. Minimal Phrase: A minimal phrase is the phrase including this head and all of its
complements.

e. Maximal Phrase: A maximal phrase is the phrase that includes complements as well as
modifiers.

Complements:

Complement is the term used for a word or words that are needed to complete the meaning of an
expression.

Most phrases and clauses will include a complement of some kind. If you can't remove it from your
sentence, then it's likely to be a complement. This is how complements differ from adjuncts. Adjuncts
are optional as they are usually just descriptive. Complements are not optional. They are essential to
ensure understanding.

The word complement most commonly crops up in the terms subject complement and object
complement.

Subject Complement

A subject complement is the adjective, noun, or pronoun that follows a linking verb. (Examples of linking
verbs include to be, to smell, to seem, to taste, to look.)
Here are two easy examples of subject complements. (The subject complements are shaded and the
subjects are bold.)

• Lee is weak.

(Lee is the subject, is is the linking verb, and the adjective weak is the subject complement. It tells us
something about the subject. It completes the meaning.)

• John was a chicken.

(John is the subject, was, is the linking verb, and the noun phrase a chicken is the subject complement. It
tells us something about the subject. It completes the meaning.)
 HEAD, COMPLEMENTS, AND MODIFIERS

Object Complement

An object complement is the adjective, noun, or pronoun that follows a direct object (shown in bold) to
rename the direct object or state what it has become.
Here are two easy examples of object complements. (The object complements are shaded and the
objects are bold.)

• The vote made John's position untenable.

(Here, John's position is the direct object of the verb made, and the adjective untenable is the object
complement that completes the meaning. The adjective untenable tells us something about the direct
object (John's position). It can't be removed because it completes the meaning. This is an example of an
object complement.)

• We voted John chairman.

(Here, John is the direct object of the verb voted, and the noun chairman is the object complement that
completes the meaning. The noun chairman tells us something about the direct object (John). It can't be
removed because it completes the meaning.)

Modifiers:

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies—that is, gives information about—another word in
the same sentence. For example, in the following sentence, the word "burger" is modified by the word
"vegetarian":

Example: I'm going to the Saturn Café for a vegetarian burger.

 The modifier "vegetarian" gives extra information about what kind of burger it is.

A modifier can be an adjective (a word that modifies a noun, like "burger"), but it can also be an
adverb (a word that modifies a verb):

Example: The student carefully proofread her draft.

 The adverb "carefully" is the modifier in this example—it modifies the verb "proofread," giving
important details about how the proofreading was conducted.

A modifier can even be a phrase or clause, as in the following example:

Example: She studied in the library.

 Here, the phrase "in the library" gives us extra information about the verb, "studied."
 HEAD, COMPLEMENTS, AND MODIFIERS

4.2 Differences between Complements and Modifiers

Given these notions of complements and modifiers, the question that follows is then how we can
distinguish between complements and modifiers. There are several tests to determine whether a phrase
is a complement or a modifier.

Obligatoriness: As hinted at already, complements are strictly-required phrases whereas mod- ifiers are
not. The examples in (13)–(15) show that the verb placed requires an NP and a PP as its complements,
kept an NP and a PP or an AP, and stayed a PP.

(12) a. John placed Kim behind the garage.

b. John kept him behind the garage.

c. *John stayed Kim behind the garage.

(13) a. *John placed him busy.

b. John kept him busy.

c. *John stayed him busy.

(14) a. *John placed behind the counter.

b. *John kept behind the counter.

c. John stayed behind the counter.

In contrast, modifiers are optional. Their presence is not required by the grammar:

(15) a. John deposited some money in the bank.

b. John deposited some money in the bank on Friday.

In (16b), the PP on Friday is optional here, serving as a modifier.

Iterability: The possibility of iterating identical types of phrase can also distinguish between
complements and modifiers. In general two or more instances of the same modifier type can occur with
the same head, but this is impossible for complements.

(16) a. *The UN blamed global warming [on humans] [on natural causes].

b. Kim and Sandy met [in Seoul] [in the lobby of the Lotte Hotel] in March.

In (17a) on humans is a complement and thus the same type of PP on natural causes cannot co-occur.
Yet in Seoul is a modifier and we can repeatedly have the same type of PP.
 HEAD, COMPLEMENTS, AND MODIFIERS

Do-so Test: Another reliable test often used to distinguish complements from modifiers is the “do so” or
“do the same thing” test. As shown in (18), we can use do the same thing to avoid repetition of an
identical VP expression:

(4) a. John deposited some money in the checking account and Mary did the same thing (too).

b. John deposited some money in the checking account on Friday and Mary did the same thing (too).

What we can observe in (18b) is that the VP did the same thing can replace either the minimal phrase
deposited some money in the checking account or the maximal phrase including the modifier on Friday.
Notice that this VP can replace only the minimal phrase, leaving out the modifier.

(5) John deposited some money in the checking account on Friday and Mary did the same thing on
Monday.

From these observations, we can draw the conclusion that if something can be replaced by do the same
thing, then it is either a minimal or a maximal phrase. This in turn means that this ‘replacement’ VP
cannot be understood to leave out any complement(s). This can be verified with more data:

(6) a. *John [deposited some money in the checking account] and Mary did the same thing in the
savings account.

b. *John [gave a present to the student] and Mary did the same thing to the teacher.

Here the PPs in the checking account and to the student are both complements, and thus they should be
included in the do the same thing phrase. This gives us the following informal generalization:

(7) Do-so Replacement Condition:

The phrase “do so” or “do the same thing” can replace a verb phrase which includes at least any
complements of the verb.

This condition explains why we cannot have another locative complement phrase in the savings account
or to the teacher in (20). The unacceptability of the examples in (22) also supports this generalization
about English grammar:

(8) a. *John locked Fido in the garage and Mary did so in the room.

b. *John ate a carrot and Mary did so a radish.

Ordering Difference:

Another difference is an ordering difference. As a complement needs to combine with a lexical head
first, modifiers follow complements:
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(17) a. John met [a student] [in the park].

b. *John met [in the park] [a student].

A similar contrast can be observed in the following contrast:

(18) a. the student [of linguistics] [with long hair]

b. *the student [with long hair] [of linguistics]

The PP with long hair is a modifier whereas “the” of linguistics is the complement of student. This is why
with long hair cannot occur between the head student and its complement of linguistics.5 As such,
observed ordering restrictions can provide more evidence for the distinction between complements and
modifiers.