complain
part of speech
verb (complain, complains, complained, complaining)
meaning for a pupil
1) To complain is to say that you are not happy or not satisfied about something. tree →
2) To complain to someone in charge is to tell them formally about a problem so they fix it. tree →
3) To complain of a pain or illness is to say you have it. tree →
4) To complain of someone is to tell someone in charge that they did something wrong. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life and manners lessons, complaining politely and calmly helps fix problems (returning a broken toy to a shop), but complaining all the time can make you seem negative; it's good to suggest a solution. In writing lessons, pupils sometimes write a letter of complaint. In stories, a character who always complains is often grumpy or spoiled. Phrases: «complain about», «complain to», «complain of», «nothing to complain about», «make a complaint».
examples
- He complained about the cold dinner. tree →
- Stop complaining and help me carry this. tree →
- We complained to the shop about the broken toy. tree →
- Grandma complained of a sore knee. tree →
- I can't complain; it was a great day. tree →
- The neighbours complained about the loud music. tree →
- If someone is unkind, you can complain to a teacher. tree →
- She never complains, even when she's tired. tree →
- “I complain of Nibs,” he cried promptly. tree →
note
Regular verb: complained. Noun: complaint. You «complain about» a thing, «complain to» a person, «complain of» a pain. Not «complain on».
In the corpora
- Tenants who cannot get a repair done may complain more than once or ask the council for help.
- Toad: «Me complain of that beautiful, that heavenly vision ... that swan, that sunbeam, that thunderbolt! ...
- Balkis tells them calmly that a Butterfly complained about his wife, and the King taught her a lesson.
- Next day Chloe's mum came in to complain that her daughter's head had been sore for days.
- In 1712 Jonathan Swift called for rules to stop English changing; people have complained about young people "ruining" English for centuries.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «complain» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.