Grammar pedants over here please! can you kindly explain to me what is a COMPLEMENT?

[Nightynight]

My dictionary helpfully translates complement as .... complement.

But what is it?
Its on the next page of ds1's french grammar cahier, and I dont understand it.

If you compliment someone you say something nice about them - "you look lovely" for example

If something complements something else, it goes well together - e.g. bacon complements eggs

HTH

In essense, it means to make something complete.

You might say that, with three children, X has the full complement.

Or you could complement your diet to make it more nutritionally complete.

i was thinking milk with the coffee

Agree with Desi.

I'll take that as a compliment, you tentacled twit

otherwise she'll come and get ya lol

nope

sorry

neither is what I am after - I know both of those.

The context is: Identify les complements in the following sentences:

Les randonneurs suivent le sentier.

Les sentiers s'enfoncent dans les bois.

thank you for trying to help anyway

complement d'objet in French is an object which usually follows a verb - does this help at all?

thank you!
does that mean it is the object of the sentence then?

that would make sense, because he was studying le sujet last week.

the way the book explains it is cack.
"Les groupes quie peuvent etre encadres par c'est....que" sont des complements."

Not 100% sure because of the context but I would go with that!

from dictionary.com:

6. Grammar. a. a word or group of words that completes a grammatical construction in the predicate and that describes or is identified with the subject or object, as small in The house is small or president in They elected her president. Compare object complement, subject complement. b. any word or group of words used to complete a grammatical construction, esp. in the predicate, including adverbials, as on the table in He put it on the table, infinitives, as to go in They are ready to go, and sometimes objects, as ball in He caught the ball.

So sometimes it's the object, as in 'le sentier', sometimes it's the adverbial, as in 'dans les bois'

congratulations, you got both examples right!

Im not sure I have fully grasped it though.

The house is small = small
They elected her president = president.

He put it on the table= on the table
They are ready to go = to go
He caught the ball = the ball.

It just seems a fairly meaningless concept.

Ah, it is the thing which is often missing in German!

eg "Will you come with?"
Kommst du mit?

Actually the explanation given is OK

C'est le sentier que les randonneurs suivent
C'est dans les bois que les sentiers s'enfoncent

both make sense

the explanation given for le sujet was
"Dans une phrase, le groupe qui peut etre encadre par "c'est...qui"

eg Le feu pass au rouge
C'est le feu qui pass au rouge.

C'est au rouge que le feu passe.

blimey
think Ive got it at last.

oh dear this has now gotten far too complicated for me

dont ask me to explain it

if you go for the c'est...qui/que explanation, it hangs on the difference between qui and que? which I always thought was a person /thing difference like in english.

No, it isn't person/object. See your 'le feu' example. It's an object but takes qui.

yes, I now realise that!