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predicative complement vs predicative adjunct

English Language & Usage Asked on April 29, 2021

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 250) has this passage:
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Here, Od is Direct Object, and Oi is Indirect Object.

It seems that CGEL is saying that almost raw in [i-ii] and fiendishly hungry in [iii] are all predicative adjuncts, not predicative complements.

In [i] and [iii], I agree that almost raw and fiendishly hungry are adjuncts. But is almost raw an adjunct in [ii] too?

If it is, how about this?

He served her steak almost raw.

Here, is almost raw an adjunct too?

One Answer

All of these can be paraphrased with a when statement containing the adjunct,

She ate her steak when it was almost raw.

He served her her steak when it was almost raw.

He served her steak when it was almost raw.

With predicative complements, this would not be possible,

He kept her steak almost raw =/= He kept her steak when it was almost raw.

She called the steak almost raw =/= She called the steak when it was almost raw.

Her steak stayed almost raw =/= Her steak stayed when it was almost raw.

In this second set, almost raw is an argument of the verb and hence cannot be paraphrased by a construction clearly falling into the adjunct category.

Answered by DW256 on April 29, 2021

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