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Adjective complements are words or phrases that complete the meaning of an adjective. There are
many everyday examples of these including the following noun clauses and prepositional phrases.
Noun Clauses
Noun clauses are groups of words that act as a noun. Just like a sentence, they have a subject and a
predicate. They do not act as a sentence on their own. Some examples include:
He was pleased that all his plants in the garden bore fruit.
The teachers do not know whether or not they can go on the field trip.
Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional phrases consist of a preposition plus another word or phrase. Some examples include:
The coach was hesitant to tell the team about the injury.
She was selfish not to share her good fortune with us.
There are many examples of adjective complements found in quotes by famous people, from literature,
and in songs. Some include:
"I am fascinated by what is beautiful, strong, healthy, what is living." - Leni Riefenstahl
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because
we destroyed ourselves." - Abraham Lincoln
She was so much surprised that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English - Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
I'm always rather nervous about how you talk about women who are active in politics, whether they
want to be talked about as women or as politicians. - John F. Kennedy
"But I still haven't found what I'm looking for." - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," U2
"The eyes shout what the lips fear to say." - William Henry
Remember adjective complements are used to complete an adjective phrases meaning. They can be
either a noun clause or a prepositional phrase. Now that you have seen some examples of adjective
complements, you might be interested to see examples of adjective clauses.