Complement (linguistics)

In linguistics, when we talk about complement, it's like a puzzle piece that helps complete a sentence. Sometimes when you say a sentence, you need an extra piece of information to explain who or what is performing the action. This extra piece is called the complement.

Let's use an example: "I am eating." That's a sentence, but it doesn't really tell you what I am eating. So we need to add a complement to complete the picture. "I am eating pizza." Now we know what I am eating! "Pizza" is the complement to the verb "eating".

Complements can come in different forms. Sometimes they are a noun, like in the pizza example, but they can also be a pronoun, adjective, or even a whole phrase.

Complements also have specific jobs in sentences. Some complements give more information about the subject of the sentence, like in "She seems happy." The complement "happy" describes the subject "she".

Other complements give more information about the object of the sentence, like in "I gave the book to him." The complement "to him" tells us who received the book.

Overall, complements are important pieces of information that help make sense of a sentence.