Select the letter of the term that correctly identifies the function of
the word or phrase in parentheses in the following sentence:
A study of living plants is (essential) to understanding fossils.
a. direct object
b. indirect object
c. object complement
d. predicate nominative
e. predicate adjective
e. predicate adjective
The function of the word "essential" in parentheses in the sentence is an attribute of the subject "study."
Therefore, the correct answer is e. predicate adjective.