Thursday, November 19, 2015

modifiers - Does the sentence "I am surprised" have the pattern (S+V+C)?



I am confused about this sentence pattern (S+V+C):





  1. I am surprised [ to see you ].




  2. I am surprised [ at how many have never heard of it ].





  3. I am surprised [ by his response ].




  4. I am surprised [ that some people study the past ].





I think that the sentence "I am surprised" has the sentence pattern "Subject + Verb + Complement".


So the phrases following the complement should be adverb phrases, because they modify the complement (surprised), right?


But the sentence "that some people study the past" is a nominal clause. It should be unable to modify the complement (surprised).



So why are these following phrases able to modify the complement?



  • to see you

  • at how many have never heard of it

  • by his response

  • that some people study the past




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