| A | B |
|---|
| Salesmen must develop the art of persuasion. | "must develop" WHAT? "art" is the direct object. S-V-DO |
| Genghis Khan gave the world many anxious moments. | "gave" WHAT? "moments" is the direct object. TO WHOM? To the world. "world" is an indirect object. S-V-IO-DO |
| Walt Whitman was America's greatest poet of the nineteenth century. | "was" is a linking verb. "poet" therefore can't be an object; it is thus a subject complement. S-LV-SC |
| Count Bismarck became both clever and crafty. | "became" is a linking verb (Check out by substituting "seemed." Therefore "clever" and "crafty" must be compound subject complements. S-LV-SC. |
| Pioneer life taught us many lessons in endurance. | "taught" WHAT? lessons. TO WHOM? to us. "Us" is the indirect object. "Lessons" is the direct object. S-V-IO-DO |
| The bombardment began at ten o'clock AM. | "began" WHAT? There is no answer to WHAT? Therefore there is no object. S-V |
| The greatest novel by an American in the nineteenth century may have been Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter | "may have been" is the predicate. No action. The predicate is linking. The Scarlet Letter is the subject complement. S-LV-SC |
| The interpreter asked the captain many questions. | "asked" WHAT? questions. TO WHOM? The captain. "Captain" is the indirect object. "Questions" is the direct object. S-V-IO-DO |
| Sgt Rogers became captain of the guard. | "became" is a linking verb. Thus, "captain" is a subject complement. S-LV-SC. |
