complement

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Inchoateknowledge  #265319  Mon, 11 Sep 06 09:57 AM

I am glad to have met you.

why the noun clause is a adjective complement I do not know.

Is it not an causal adjunct, (an adverb)?

Adjuncts can be dropped, complements can not.

I am glad -- this sentence is fine, so the noun clause should not be called a complement.

  
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LearningNerd  #265620  Mon, 11 Sep 06 09:23 PM

Isn't "to have met you" a noun phrase (an infinitive phrase)? A clause requires a finite verb, and an infinitive ("to have") is a nonfinite verb.

Anyway, "to have met you" modifies the adjective "glad", so I guess it could be seen as a kind of adverb. Unfortunately, these grammatical terms can be really confusing. As Wikipedia points out here: "Object complements can often be removed leaving a well-formed sentence, thus the use of the term complement is slightly illogical." So, I guess the so-called "adjective complement" works the same way.

Besides that, it wouldn't be an adjunct because (according to Wikipedia) "an adjunct is a sentence element that establishes the circumstances in which the action or state expressed by the verb take place." So, unlike an adverb, an adjunct only modifies verbs, not adjectives.

I agree with you that it shouldn't be called a complement, but that's what the experts decided to call it. 

EDIT: I had pointed out that removing "to have met you" would completely change the meaning of the sentence, but I realized (silly me) that removing any adjective or adverb would do the same.

So, "to have met you" isn't a complement in the strictest sense, but the term "complement" is used to describe more than one thing. Again, to quote Wikipedia: "In grammar the term complement is sometimes used with different meanings. . . . We find complements which function as a sentence element (i.e. of equal status to subjects and objects) and complements which exist within sentence elements."

  
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Welkins2139  #265732  Tue, 12 Sep 06 04:02 AM

I am glad to have met you.

Glad is an adjective word.

To have met you is an adverbial phrase that modifies glad.

  
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