Students can practice their grammar skills by circling the subject complement in each of the ten provided sentences.

Let’s go through each sentence one by one to find the subject complement.

Remember: A subject complement is an adjective (or sometimes a noun) that comes after a linking verb and describes or renames the subject of the sentence.

Linking verbs include: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, seem, become, feel, look, sound, taste, smell, appear, grow, turn, etc.

We’re looking for adjectives that follow these linking verbs and describe the subject.

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1. We are late as usual.
→ “are” is a linking verb.
→ “late” describes “we”.
✔ Subject complement: late

2. They might be happy to help.
→ “be” is a linking verb (after modal “might”).
→ “happy” describes “they”.
✔ Subject complement: happy

3. The small dog is black and white.
→ “is” is a linking verb.
→ “black and white” describes “dog”.
✔ Subject complement: black and white

4. The cat was afraid and ran under the bed.
→ “was” is a linking verb.
→ “afraid” describes “cat”. (“ran” is action verb — ignore it.)
✔ Subject complement: afraid

5. She shall be hungry soon since she ate so little.
→ “be” is a linking verb (after modal “shall”).
→ “hungry” describes “she”.
✔ Subject complement: hungry

6. I am sure you are right.
→ First part: “am” is linking verb → “sure” describes “I”.
→ Second part: “are” is linking verb → “right” describes “you”.
But note: The whole sentence has two clauses. We need to circle subject complements in the entire sentence.
✔ Subject complements: sure, right

7. You are being foolish if you leave now.
→ “are being” = progressive form of “be”, still a linking verb here.
→ “foolish” describes “you”.
✔ Subject complement: foolish

8. Do you feel tired?
→ “feel” can be a linking verb when it means “seem” or “appear”. Here, “tired” describes how “you” feel.
✔ Subject complement: tired

9. He thought sadly they were lost.
→ “thought” is NOT a linking verb — it’s an action verb (mental action).
→ “sadly” is an adverb modifying “thought”.
→ “were lost” — “were” is linking verb, “lost” describes “they”. But this is inside a clause that’s the object of “thought”. Still, “lost” is a subject complement for “they” in that clause.
Wait — let’s check: In “they were lost”, “lost” is describing “they”, and “were” is linking. So yes, “lost” is a subject complement.
BUT — the main verb of the sentence is “thought”, which is not linking. However, the instruction says “circle the subject complements in the following sentences” — meaning anywhere in the sentence.
So even though “thought” isn’t linking, the embedded clause “they were lost” contains a subject complement.
✔ Subject complement: lost

10. James was winning and Tom looked tired.
→ First part: “was winning” — “winning” is present participle, but “was” here is helping verb for continuous tense — NOT linking. “Winning” is not describing James; it’s what he was doing. So no subject complement here.
→ Second part: “looked” can be a linking verb (meaning “appeared”). “Tired” describes “Tom”.
✔ Subject complement: tired

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Now let’s list all the subject complements we found:

1. late
2. happy
3. black and white
4. afraid
5. hungry
6. sure, right
7. foolish
8. tired
9. lost
10. tired

Note: For #6, there are two subject complements because there are two clauses with linking verbs.

Final Answer:
1. late
2. happy
3. black and white
4. afraid
5. hungry
6. sure, right
7. foolish
8. tired
9. lost
10. tired