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Difficulty: MediumNouns and Noun Phrases

In the sentence below, what is the grammatical function of the underlined noun phrase?

*The university Senate appointed Professor Danjuma the dean of the new faculty.*

  1. Object complement of the verb "appointed"Answer
  2. B
    Direct object of the verb "appointed"
  3. C
    Appositive modifying "Professor Danjuma"
  4. D
    Indirect object of the verb "appointed"

Answer

Object complement of the verb "appointed"
The noun phrase 'the dean of the new faculty' functions as an object complement because it follows the direct object 'Professor Danjuma' and completes the predicate structure of the complex-transitive verb 'appointed'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the main clause structure and identify the verb and its direct object.
The subject is 'The university Senate', the main verb is 'appointed', and the direct object receiving the action is 'Professor Danjuma'.
Determining the direct object establishes the syntactic target of the subsequent noun phrase.
2
Determine the syntactic relationship between 'Professor Danjuma' and 'the dean of the new faculty'.
The noun phrase 'the dean of the new faculty' completes the predication by describing the new status assigned to the direct object.
A noun phrase that renames or describes a direct object to complete the sense of a complex-transitive verb functions as an object complement.

Key Concept

Syntactic Functions of Noun Phrases (Object Complement)
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Topics

Nouns and Noun Phrases

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