SPOCA or SVOCA/competitive exams/concept of sentence analysis/complications explained/helps writing

SPOCA or SVOCA/competitive exams/concept of sentence analysis/complications explained
An excellent video on a confusing concept - explained twice to make it 100% clear. Complications explained in detail.
A must for all those who are doing competitive exams and for students of basic grammar to understand differences in complement and adjunct.
This video will help everyone analyse sentences better and also aid in understanding how to embellish sentences to write better.
See the video several times and do short exercises on your own. You will need to practice using a lot of sentences to get the concept permanently ingrained, and its problems sorted. The study of grammar is quickly forgotten if it is not adequately practiced over a period of time. If many sentences are done over a year, the knowledge you have will become permanent.

Sentences for exercises. Please view answers only after you have tried to do these sentences first. You can ask doubts in the comments section.

Exercise:
1. Manisha struggled powerlessly to untie the knot.
2. Harman became tense as the papers were distributed.
3. The thief jumped over the fence in panic.
4. The girl driving for hours decided to take a break at the inn.
5. The boy feeling sleepy and tired yawned loudly out of boredom .
6. The leaking gas caused Shama to choke and splutter in the car.
7. Horrified at the accident, the drunken driver jumped into his car hurriedly.
8. The teacher gave me back my results on Monday.
9. The boss straightened his tie when he walked into the room.
10. The movie made me cry a lot.
11. On the first day of the term, the candidates gave a written letter of protest to the Principal
12. Clearly, on that day, the students doing well were absent.
13. The men, generally, gave shelter to the poor during the earthquake
14. The noises from the house seemed terribly strange.
15. The sounds from the basement appeared suspicious.

Scroll down for answers and extra explanatory notes.

















Answers:
1. SPA (how) A (why) 2. S P C (sub) A (when) 3. S P A (where) A(how)
4. S (The girl driving for hours - Noun phrase) P A (why) A(where)
5. S (The boy feeling sleepy and tired - noun phrase) P A (how) A (why)
6. S (The leaking gas - noun phrase) P O (Shama) C (to choke and splutter object complement) A (in the car)
7. A (Horrified.... accident why) S P A(where) A (how)
8. S P O(indirect) O (direct) A (when)
9. S P O A(when) A (where)
10. S P O C
11. A ( On the first day of the term) S P O (a written.....Principal)
12. A (how) A (when) S (the students doing well) P C (absent - subject complement)
13. S A(how) P O(direct) O (indirect) A (when)
14 S A(where) P A(how) C (sub complement)
15. S A P C (subject complement)


Extra Notes
Adjuncts are extra information. They are mostly prepositional phrases (beginning with a preposition) that answer the question when, where, why, how put to the verb in the sentence. They can also be adverbial or adjectival dependent clauses. Adjuncts can be jettisoned without affecting the main clause.

Complements cannot be thrown out. They are required to complete the meaning of the sentence or to make sure the meaning is not misunderstood. She made me/She made me sing. We cannot stop at She made or She made me.

When they tell us more about the subject they are subject complements, when they tell us more about the object they are object complements.

Causative verbs like make, cause, allow, help, enable, keep, hold, let, force, and require will take an object and an object complement. She made me cry. The word ‘cry’ is telling us more about the pronoun ‘me’ which is the object. This can be a non like cry (actually a bare infinitive (to cry) answering what? Or it can be an adjective She made me sad where the word ‘sad’ is an adjective. These are not adjuncts.

Linking verbs like seem, become, see, feel, sound, smell, grow, get, appear, all forms of the verb ‘to be’ will normally take an adjective or noun that is a subject complement giving us more information on the subject. If the word after the verb is an object different from the subject check if it is a dynamic verb. E.g. 1. She grew tired (adjective)
2. She grew a tree (object noun). The first verb 'grew' is a linking verb and takes an adjective as complement and the second verb 'grew' is a dynamic verb and takes a noun object.

The sentence might begin with adjuncts if the information is on the where, why, when how put to the verb in the sentence. Take care to check this out. Is it describing the noun or the verb? If it is describing the noun it becomes part of the noun phrase: e.g. The man with the long white beard was startled. (a string of adjectives describing the noun ‘man’) But if it is describing the verb it will be: Terrified of the lizard on the wall, the man with the long white beard was startled. (the adjunct phrase ‘terrified of the lizard on the wall answering the question why? Put to the verb 'startled')