SYNTAX

Languages are by nature extremely complex and describing a language is not an easy
task. To help with description and analysis it is better to divide a language into separate
components or different areas of analysis. Thus, Phonology looks at and describes the
sound system of a language, Morphology looks at the way words are formed, Syntax
seeks to describe the way words fit together to form sentences or utterances, and
Semantics and Pragmatics study meaning. Although these components interact with
each other, they can, to some extent, be looked at and described individually.
Syntax, or sentence structure means looking at the way words combine together to
form sentences. One way to study syntax is to look at sentences which we already know
to be considered syntactically well-formed sentences.
e.g. (1) I shot the sheriff. well formed.
(2) * The shot sheriff I.
By analysing or describing sentences such as (1) in terms of their constituent parts, we
can see the patterns that words follow when they fit together. It seems clear that
sentences are made up of units and that at one level these units are words. So, a
sentence consists of words or alternatively words are constituents of a sentence.
We use S to stand for sentence, and an arrow, to mean consists of. Thus S word +
word+....
There are rules governing the way in which words can be put together to form
syntactically well-formed or grammatical sentences.
e.g. (1) The girl likes the dog.

(2) The dog likes the girl.

Here we have changed the word order, but the sentence still works. This suggests that
the words dog and girl are interchangeable. Of course, changing the words over
changes the meaning but the sentence is still well-formed. Because dog and girl are
interchangeable, they belong to the same word category. This category is called Noun.
S The + Noun + likes + the Noun.
girl

dog

E.g. This girl likes the dog.

This girl likes that dog.
This girl likes this dog.
Again, this, that, the are interchangeable, they belong to the same word category,
Determiner. They act to limit or determine the noun they refer to.
S Determiner + Noun + likes + Determiner + Noun
This

girl

the

dog

This

girl

that

dog

If we have This girl likes the dog, we may replace likes with: loves, hates. They are
verbs and they belong to the same category.
S Determiner + Noun + Verb + Determiner + Noun
This

girl

likes

the

dog

loves
hates
Another way of representing this abstract structure is in a Tree Diagram.
S Determiner + Noun + Verb + Determiner + Noun
This

girl

likes

the

dog

This is a much more detailed and informative description about word order and the
kinds of words which can go together. It describes sentences in terms of the categories
the individual words belong to.
Phrases and Phrase Structure
E.g. A dog chased that girl.
Phrase A

Phrase B


Det

Noun

dog

verb

chased

Det

Noun

that

girl

Determiner, Noun, Pronoun Noun Phrase N.P

A dog=subject (NP)
Likes that dog =Predicate. The Predicate here consists of a verb and a noun phrase.

Verb Phrase (VP)

But: The dog barked.
S

The cat sat on the table.

Again: This girl likes that dog.
S

NP

Det

VP

Noun

verb

NP

Det

This

girl

likes

SNP + VP

that

Noun

dog

VP verb + NP

N.P here has the function of D.O

Adverbs and Adverb Phrases

As far as meaning is concerned, adverbs often add information in relation to
circumstances of manner, place or time.
E.g. Ken snores loudly

= Adverb Phrase(Adv.P)

The baby cried continually

Ken snores very loudly

very=degree adverb

NP

VP

Adv. P

deg

Ken

snores

very

Adv.

loudly

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases:

The Preposition is part of a Prepositional Phrase (PP)
Sally looked up
S

NP

VP

PP

Sally

looked

up

Sally looked up the chimney

Adjectives and Adjective Phrases (AP)
The fat dog chased the thin girl.
In this example the adjectives are said to modify the nouns. Just as an adverb with a
verb, an adjective works to narrowly define the sense of the noun by ascribing certain
attributes or characteristics to it.
Disgustingly fat

AP

Adv.P

Disgustingly

fat

The Verb Phrase.

Transitive verbs:
1)

Kate hugged the baby.

S

NP

VP

V [trans]

NP

Det

Kate

hugged

the

baby

2) The dog found a bone

S

NP

Det

The

NP

Det

dog

found

bone

3) Jenny hit him.

S

NP

VP

V [trans]

Jenny

hit

NP

him

Intransitive verbs:
1) Ken snores.
S

NP

Vp

V [intrans]

Ken

snores

2) The baby cried.

S

NP

VP

Det

V [intrans]

The

baby

cried

Ditransitive Verbs:

DO + I.O

Roy told the children a story.

S

NP

VP

V [ditrans]

NP

Det

Roy

told

NP

Det

the

children

1) Sally became a doctor.

S

NP

VP

V [intens]

NP

Det

Sally

became

doctor

2) George is in the garden.

S

NP

VP

V [intens]

PP

Intensive Verbs:

story

NP

Det

George

is

in

the

garden

3) Sue seems unhappy.

S

NP

VP

V [intens]

AP (adjective phrase)

Sue

seems

unhappy

Complex-transitive Verbs:
Kate thought John a fool.

A fool= (object complement); John= D.O

S

NP

VP

V (complex) NP

Kate

NP

Det

thought John

fool

The Sentence
The sentence is the main object of linguistic description. This is due to its being the
unit or prime at the highest level of linguistic form - the syntactic level. The sentence
enjoys a status of independence at its own level of occurrence- i.e. structural
dependence, as well as at the other levels such as the phonological level, the sentence
being marked off by a unique phonological contour and by boundary signals - the
junctures, or the semantic level, the sentence being assigned a global semantic
interpretation.
At the same level there also occur the phrasal units, also representing syntactic
categories. They share a number of properties and relational properties. They both help
to the realization of endo-centric and exo-centric configurations. Attempts to define the
sentence in traditional grammars failed precisely because of the fact that the sentence is
a very complex linguistic object. Most traditionalists were inclined to limit their
definitions to the semantic peculiarities of sentence. Curme, for instance, says that a
sentence is an expression of a thought or feeling by means of a word or words used in
such form and manner as to convey the meaning intended. The definition is followed by
a discussion of the form and functions of sentence. It is only at the end of the discussion

10

that Curme mentions the structural aspect of sentence, its make-up (subject +
predicate).
Structuralists focused on the formal independence of the unit S. Bloomfield, for
instance, defined S as a grammatical unit between the constituent parts of which there
exist distributional limitations and dependences, but which can itself be put into no
distributional class. He argues that a set of utterances including How are you? Its a
fine day cannot be grouped on grammatical grounds into one larger form. Hence, S is
the maximum unit upon which the distributional properties can be best studied.
The sentence is a string of lexical formatives (words) organized according to the
following

principles:

a) An underlying hierarchy of syntactic relations holding between the categorial

constituents of S, minimally actualized by the relation of predication between an NP
functioning as Subject and a VP functioning as Predicate of the S.
b) A superficial linearization of the lexical items corresponding to the lexical categories
making

up

the constituents of S.

c) An underlying semantic correlate, residing in the global meaning interpretation of S

and minimally representable as a logical predication (a predicate and its associated
arguments).
d) A phonetic shape, made up of a specialized intonational contour, the pitch and the
juncture, a graphic form which marks some of the phonological aspects by specialized
graphic signals.
e) Pragmatic properties regarding the functionality of S in concrete communicative
contexts.
The logico-semantic correlate of the grammatical unit S is its propositional context
which reflects a certain state-of-affairs by means of:
a) Predication, realized by a predicate which assigns a property or a relation to one or
several arguments.
b) Reference for each of the constituents of the predications part.
The arguments are realized grammatically by NP-S, while reference is mainly realized
by

the

system

of

Determiners

in

the

respective

language.

The predicate is realizable in each language by a number of verb semantic subclasses.

11

The syntactically relevant aspect consists in the word order possibilities for each
language.
Taking into account the form of sentences (including, on the one hand, the deep and
surface configuration and, on the other hand, the phonological/graphic peculiarities)
and the communicative function of each formal type, there are four types of
sentences:
1. Declarative sentences specialized for giving information under the form of
statements.
2. Interrogative sentences specialized for requesting missing information.
3. Imperative sentences (or commands) specialized for requesting action, under the
form of orders.
4. Exclamatory sentences, specialized for expressing subjective reactions, feelings etc.
Classification of sentences according to the degree of structural complexity:
a) Simple sentences (simplexes) are based upon one predication relation, realized by a
finite verb form.
b) Compound sentences are based upon the coordination (conjoining) of two or more
sentences.
e.g. Dinner was over and the kids went to bed.
c) Complex sentences are based upon subordination (embedding) of at least one S. The
tree structure of complex sentences contains at least one S mode (dominated by another
S mode) besides the initial S.
E.g. Sarah admitted she was wrong.
S

NP

VP

Aux

MV

12

Sarah

-ed

admit

NP

S (she was wrong).

The S modes on branches lower than the initial S signal embedded clauses. Clauses
may be, in their turn, sub-classified according to the V form of their predication:
a) Finite clauses, those whose V form carries the markers of Mood, Tense and Aspect.
b) Non-finite clauses whose V form is an Infinitive, a Gerund or a Participle.
E.g. Johns telling a lie shocked his friends.
Ger-cl
It is a shame to tell a lie.
Inf-cl
Ba
sic Sentence configurations

An inventory of the main S configurations of English may be carried out along two
levels:
a) by supplying the relatively small set of deep structure configurations;
b) by supplying a very long list of the surface configurational possibilities dictated by
the word order.
There are two essential aspects of S structure that help us differentiate the basic S
configurations:
A. the Constituent structure of S.
B. the Relational sequence in S.

A. The Constituent structure of S:

Sentences have an internal organization, based upon a part-whole relation between
larger units and the smaller units they contain. Syntactic processes at the level of S
mainly operate with constituent sequences.
1) Constituents of same type enjoy the same distributional properties and may be

13

substituted for one another. Nominal phrases, for instance, represent a large class of
constituents of the same type, which includes inter-substitutable sub-types:
-NP.s of various degrees of complexity: Tony, my dog, three blind mice, an old
Romanian folk custom, etc.
Pronouns: he, all of them, mine, everybody
-Nominalization: the building of new libraries
-clauses: that Susan will marry next month, Jamess sitting up late.
2) It is only constituent sequences that may be substituted, deleted, moved or inserted in
sentences, in other words transformations affect only constituents:
Substitution: Bill repeated his lesson yesterday morning and (by Pro-VP) his sister
did to yesterday evening.
.

Pro-VP

Movement: Mother bought a necklace for Janet.

.

NP

NP

Mother bought Janet a necklace.

NP

NP

3) Location of certain morphemes (the possessives morpheme in English) is

conditioned by constituency, s being placed at the end of an NP constituent.
E.g. The Queen of Englands Speech
* the Queens of England Speech
4) Explanatory analysis of ambiguities is also made possible by constituency
demarcations. Two seemingly identical sequences are interpreted differently, on the
basis of the differences between constituent types:
a) They were rolling over the carpet.

Adv. P.

b) They were rolling over the carpet.

D. O.

5) Sequences of modal verbs are ungrammatical in English.

* Student must can solve the whole test in 2 hours.
14

Nevertheless, such modal sequences are allowed to occur if the modals belong to two
different constituents:
E.g. People who must can learn English in month.
6) Idioms in English have a constituent status. Thus a dog in the manager is an NP
idiom, go to the dogs -a VP idiom, Time and tide wait for no man an S idiom.
B.The Relational Sequence in S
The constituents making up a S enter a number of well defined grammatical relations,
mainly materialized as relations between the predicating verb and each of the NPs
positions on its left and right.
e.g. The boys were flying a big kite.
.

NP

VP

NP

Relational sequences: subject----V---- Direct Object.

The simple sentences are those whose base contains just one S mode. Such sentences
are based on one predication relation. Among these sentences we may distinguish a
subset, characterized by the highest degree of structural simplicity. Early generativists
called these S-s kernels or simplexes. They are declarative, assertive and active.
The main configurational differences are dictated by the various semantic-syntactic
properties of verbs. Verb sub-categorization into copulative and non-copulative,
transitive and intransitive, monotransitive and ditransitive will turn out to determine a
variety of types and sub-types. The fact that there exists a strong relationship between
the inner organization of sentential configurations and the semantic-syntactic nature of
verbs has led a number of linguists to the conclusion that properties such as transitive
and intransitive apply to the whole sentence configurations, rather than to isolated
verbs. There is a close correlation between the syntax of the verb and the syntax of the
sentence it predicates.

15

Type 1 (copulative Predicate configurations)

The general characteristic of Type 1 is the fact that predication is realized by a copula
(BE) or a copula-like V (become, taste, etc.) in conjunction with a Predicative Adj. P or
NP.
E.g. This boy is clever.
This table is square.
Sub-type 1.a (NP)

(be + Pred. Adj P)

Subj

Predicative

Sentences of this type are one-term configurations, i.e. the verb takes as co-occurent
term the Subject NP. This NP may be simple or phrasally coordinated if the Pred. Adj.
is reciprocal:
e.g. The problem is interesting.
Men and women are equal.
In case be+ Pred. Adj. renders properties pertaining to exterior circumstances
(temperature, weather, atmosphere, etc), the Subj. NP is unspecified in deep structure
and It Insertion applies so as to produce surface strings:
e. g

It was frosty outside.

It will be cold tomorrow.

The Subject may be clausal in case the Pred. Adj. belongs to the subcategory including:
advisable, necessary, possible, recommendable. As a result

of extraposition of the

Subject Clause and It insertion, the following surface structure configurational type is
produced:

16

e.g. [That Bill has been to Africa] is incredible -> It is incredible [that Bill has been to
Africa].
With Pred. Adj. of the subcategory including (un)likely, certain, some, besides the
above surface variant, there may be obtained a surface configuration of the form:
e.g. John is likely to win the contest.
from [ John to win the contest ] is likely .
The Subject of the Subject Clause has been raised in the position of Subject of the
main clause.
Sub-type 1.b {[NP] ^ [be ^Pred NP]}

Subj
a)

Predicative

Indefinite NP as Predicative:
Marian is a beauty. His aim is freedom.
Definite NP as Predicative:
We are the owners.
She will be the president.

The copulative verb may also take a Prepositional NP as Predicative:

e.g His disease is of a hidden nature.

The Subject may be sentential and it may undergo Extraposition and It- insertion, if the
NP is a relatively fixed phrase such as: a pleasure, a necessity, no good, no use, fun.
The clause may be finite (a That clause) or non-finite (infinitival or gerundial).
e.g. [That he should learn a foreign language] is a necessity.
It is a necessity that he should learn a foreign language.
[To visit people/ visiting people] is fun.
It is fun to visit people/ visiting people.
17

The NP functioning as Predicative may also be expressed by a Complement clause

(That Cl, Inf. Cl, Ger. Cl)
e.g. The probability is that the experiment has failed.
His pastime is to collect stamps/ collecting stamps.

The embedded sentences may be indirect questions, relative clauses without expressed
antecedent, and other complement clauses.
e.g. [What puzzled her] was [that he should have said such a thing]
Subject Clause

Predicative Clause

Sub-type 2 {[NP] ^ {[be^ Adj P] ^ [PNP]}}

Subj ^

v ^ Predicative ^ P O

The VP has one more constituent, a Prepositional NP functioning as Indirect Object

(marked by the Prep: to/for) or as Prepositional Object:
a)

With I.O

The document was quite surprising to me.

Subj
Ski-running is difficult for Sarah.
b)

Pred. Adj

IO/PNP

With P.O I am aware of the difficulties.

He was pleased with my answer.
They were panicked at the news.
We are all interested in science fiction.
The Prepositional Object may be sentential (That Cl., Inf. Cl., Ger Cl.). In this case

the preposition is deleted when the clause is introduced by that or is expressed by an

infinitival construction:
e.g. I am aware that things must be changed.
Nobody was willing to give in.
The Ger.Cl retains the deep structure preposition:
e.g. That man was afraid of being bitten by dogs.

18

Type II (Non-Copulative) Intransitive Predicate Configurations

As different from Type 1, these configurations are predicated by meaningful
intransitives (including the existential BE)
Sub-type 1:

{[NP] ^ [v]}
Subj

e.g

The kids are sleeping.

Spring has set in.

These are one-term configurations which may optionally include Adverbial Phrases of
various kinds: Manner, Place, Time, Purpose, Cause.
e.g. The man was crying (with pain). - Adv P- Cause
The woman was crying (bitterly). Adv. P- Manner
The pupils were working (hard) (in the school-yard) (at 5).
Adv.P Manner Adv. P Place Adv P Time
Some intransitive verbs such as seem or happen take a Complement Clause as
sentential Subject. The Subject Clause undergoes transformational operations which
finally result in surface configuration:
e. g. It seems that prices will go down.
Prices seem to have gone down.
It happened that Gloria was missing.
Gloria happened to be missing.
Some configurations are predicated by verbs that obligatory take [+set] Subject (often
expressed by a phrasally conjoined NP)
e.g. The car and the motor-bike collided.
With weather verbs, the unspecified deep Subject is realized in surface by inserted it:
e. g. It frosted (hard) (yesterday).

19

It had been snowing (for three days).

It is drizzling.

Sub-type 2 [NP] ^ [v ^ {PNP, Adv. P}]

Subject ^ v

{IO, PO, Adv. Modifier}

This sub-type is predicated by the so-called complex intransitive verbs. They take as
obligatory co-occurent adjunct a PNP or an Adv. P. The PNP may be an Indirect Object
marked by to or a Prepositional Object:
e.g. He finally submitted to their pressure. (PNP/ IO)
The river abounds in fish. (PNP/ PO)
The book consists of five sections. (PNP/ P O)
He was looking for his old shoes.
You can rely on this fellow.
Most prepositional verbs (except the ones that take to IOs, as well as abound in,
consist of and a few others) allow passivization:
e.g. This fellow can be relied upon.
A subgroup of the same verbs may take a Complement Clause functioning as
Prepositional Object:
e.g.

Jack insisted on our coming earlier. (Ger.Cl./PO)

Jack insisted that we should come earlier. (That Cl/ PO)

Gerundial Cl. preserves the deep Prep., while in a That Cl. the Prep. is deleted.

Sub-type 3

{[NP] ^ [v ^ PNP ^ PNP]}

20

Subject ^ v

^ IO/PO1^PO2

Intransitives with two Prepositional Objects predicate configurations such as:

1.

Mr. Sandy will lecture to us on the West Indies.

I.O

2. I have quarrelled with my sister about our project trip.

PO1

PO2

One of the two Objects may undergo Deletion:

e.g.

Mary disagreed with her father.

PO1
(Deletion of PO2)

Type 3: Transitive Predication Configurations

Sub-type 1:

{[NP] ^ [[v] ^ [NP]]}

Subject ^ v ^ D.O

e.g.

The kid broke the window.

They have (got) a new car.
I love all my pupils.
The accident horrified her.
We drank tea and milk.

All these are two-term configurations; the second term is a Direct Object. Reversion of
these terms is made possible by the Passive Transformation, which applies to most
transitive configurations (with a few exceptions such as the sentence above predicated
by have (got)).
In case the subject NP is co-referential with the Direct Object NP, the latter is
obligatory replaced by the reflexive pro-form:

21

e.g. Mother cut herself.

With some of the verbs entering such monotransitive strings there is the possibility of
deleting this object:
e.g. Sarah was reading (a/ some book)
He drinks too much (alcoholic stuff)
Adverbial Phrases co-occur freely with these constructions. Non-stative transitives can
be modified by Manner Adverbials, while stative ones usually cannot allow this type of
modification:
e.g. He was driving the car carefully.
*He knew the lesson carefully.
Transitive verb subcategories that may take a [+abstract] Object NP are generally [+
Complementation]. The complement clause functioning as Direct Object may be a That
Cl, Inf. Cl, Ger, Cl.:
e.g. She knows that you are lying.
They wanted to see the movie again.
She likes being praised.
Indirect questions may also occur as direct objects:
e.g. She did not know where to go.
Relative Clauses (without expressed antecedent) freely appear in direct object position:
e.g. She always understands what she is told / whatever you tell her.
The Direct Object Clause may be anticipated by the formal it Object. In between the
latter and the former there occurs a Predicative Adjunct to the Direct Object, expressed
by an Adjective. It is only a limited number of transitive verbs that enter this
construction:
e.g. John considered it necessary [to warn his friends about the thief]

22

Predicative adjunct to the DO

Sub-type 2 [[NP] ^ V^ [NP] ^ [PNP]]
Subj. ^

^ DO ^ IO

where Prep= to/for (+dative)

e.g The girl offered the bunch of flowers to the soloist.

The great majority of verbs predicating these constructions allow a transformation
called Dative Movement, consisting of the reordering of the I.O (to/for NP) and the
D.O. and the deletion of the dative prepositional marker:
e.g. The girl offered the soloist a bunch of flowers.
With some categories there occur various types of embedded clauses as Direct Obj. The
Indirect Obj. is often deleted in such contexts:
e.g. She promised (me) that she would leave off smoking. (That Cl)
Steve told me what to do next. (Indep Rel Clause)
He could not explain (to us) why the experiment had failed. (Ind Obj)
Passivization of the basic strings results in two configurations: one with the deep Direct
Object, the other with the Indirect Obj. as Subject:
e.g. The bunch of flowers was handed to the soloist ( by the girl)
The soloist was handed the bunch of flowers. (by the girl)
The verbs answer, ask, teach, only occur in the following type of surface configuration:
[[NP] ^ [v ^ NP ^ NP]]
Subj

^ ^ O1 ^ O2

Both Objects are prepositionless.

e.g. She will teach the students modern grammar.
The kid asked Mother odd questions.
I answered Stephen all his questions.

23

The strings with ask may take embedded indirect questions (optionally accompanied by
I.O deletion):
e.g. We asked (the teacher) whether the paper should be handed in at 9.
Strings with answer may take That-complement clauses as DO (optionally with IO
deletion)
e.g. She answered (me) that she hadnt seen the man.

Sub-type 3 [[NP] ^ [[v] ^ [NP] ^ [PNP]]]

Subj ^ v ^ DO ^ PO
These sentences are predicated by verbs that take a Direct Obj. and a Prepositional Obj.
whose Preposition is not a dative marker:
e.g. The jury accused him of murder.
I shall remind George of his promise
The man took him for his brother.
Passivization results in just one surface configuration, with the former D.O as Subject;
the PO is retained:
e.g. He was reminded of his promise
He was accused of murder.
Complement Clauses may be embedded as prepositional Object (with Prep. Del for
That Cl and Inf. Cl.):
e.g. I reminded him (D.O) that he should leave earlier( That Cl/ Prep. Obj)
I reminded him (DO) to leave earlier. (Inf Cl/ Prep. Obj)
Sub-type 4

[[NP] ^ [[v] ^ [NP] ^ [Adv P]]]

Subj. ^ v

^ DO

^ Adv Place/ Direction

24

e.g.

Andrew laid the map on his desk.

He thrust the knife in (to) the trunk.

The Direct Obj. is obligatorily followed by an Adv.P (Place/Direction).The strings may

be passivized, in which case the Place adv is retained:
e.g. The volume was placed on the upper shelf. (by them)
No complementation is possible.

Syntactic Relations
Predication

25

Before passing on to the three types of predication proper: intransitive copulative,

intransitive non-copulative and transitive, we should discuss the morphological and
syntactic realization of predication at VP level.
The constituents of the VP are grouped into the following sub-strings:
a)

The Auxiliary

b)

The Main Verb

The Auxiliary sub-string consists of grammatical formatives that make the grammatical
categories pertaining to V. It is characterized by a sequence of affixes (bound
morphemes): -s, -ed, -en, -ing that alternate with auxiliary verbs (free morphemes):
modals, aspect auxiliaries have and be.

Copulative Predication: The Adjectival and Nominal Types

The structure of Copulative Predicates
The semantic and syntactic tasks of predication may be carried out by either a) a single
lexical item - typically one of the class V, or, b) by the joint contribution of two items,
one of which belongs to the class V. In the latter case the predicate is labelled by
traditionalists as nominal. The structure of such predicates is in functional terms:
Copula ^ Predicative where the Predicative is realized by one of the following
syntactic categories:
1. Adj. Phrase
2. Noun Phrase, which may be non-prepositional, prepositional (PNP) or
causal.
The copula is almost uniformly the verb BE (or one in some V subcategories with a
copula-like behaviour. Therefore, such structures are called copulative predicates and
further specify the type (adjectival/ nominal)
The role of the copula is confined to the syntactic and morphological tasks of
predication. The typical copula BE is totally empty semantically, as different from the
existential BE verb. What BE does as part of the predicate is:

26

1)

To link or connect the subject NP to the Adj.P/NP functioning as Predicative

2)
3)

To realize agreement with the Subject NP.

To carry Tense and Aspect, i. e. the morphological category markers.

In conclusion BE only performs the formal tasks of predication, verbalizing the

meaning carried by the second constituent of the predicate.

Subcategorization of copulative verbs in English

We start from the formal criterion that a copula is a verb that realizes predication
according to the rule:
MV-> v ^ Pred. Adj. P
Pred. NP
Consequently we obtain a class which is homogenous formally, but not semantically.
Further subcategorization obtains if one takes into account:
1)

Subject selection

2)

Semantic features pertaining to each sub-class or to individual items.

We first obtain two classes:

a)

Semantically empty/dummy- the verb BE

b)

Semantically poor, but having one or several specified features such as:

(+inchoative)- become, go, run; (+ aspectual)- remain, rest; (+existential)- lie, stand
Copula-like Verbs:
MAKE: If you work hard, you will make a good engineer.
Jack and Mary make a handsome couple.
He made friends with my daughter.

27

The meaning is: be, develop into, turn out to be. The predicative is an NP, usually [definite].
FALL: His best jokes all fell flat.
He fell a victim to his wifes cruelty.
He fell into disgrace.
Meaning: be (unsuccessful), come to be/ become / reach a state. The predicative is an
Adj. Phrase, a nonprepositional NP or prepositional NP (into NP)
LIE: The book lay open on the table.
The snow lay thick on the ground.
Meanings: remain in a certain state/position. LIE exclusively takes an Adjectival
Predicate, followed by a Place Adverbial.
HOLD: The argument still holds good/ true.
STAND: Tom stands alone among his colleagues.
(V ^ Pred. Adj. ) : We will stand firm.
V ^ NP: Who stands first on the list.
V ^PNP: We stand in need of help.
REST: You may rest assured that nothing else will interfere.
SIT: resembles LIE, its meaning being even stronger felt.
e.g. To sit tight is to remain firmly in ones place.
Figuratively it means to stick firmly to ones purpose, opinions, etc.
PASS: They pass for rich. PNP
She passes as an experienced doctor. PNP
The Predicative is a PNP required by the fixed prepositions for and as (the latter a
weakened conjunction). Its meaning is consider to be ^ Adjective.

28

To the above mentioned non-empty verbs, we have to add the subcategory of

intransitive inchoative verbs underivable from deep structures containing a copula BE.
Among them are: become, turn (as distinct from turn out {to be}, which, like to prove
may take the be completion), run, go, wear.
All these verb patterns differ from structures resulting from reduction of two clauses to
one (double predicates, predicates of result) in that they cannot be paraphrased by
coordinate (compound sentences) or by complex sentences:
*She will make and be a good wife.

The Predicative
The Predicative is the non-empty constituent of the copulative predicate. Concerning
the relation holding between the Subject and its Predicate, one might notice that it is
unmarked in English. The Predicative may be basic, if taken by the verbs discussed as
copulas, or derived from a compound / complex sentence with a clausal Subject or
Object. The derived Predicative goes by the name of Predicative Adjunct to the
Subject / Object or Subject (ive)/ Object (ive) Complement in traditional grammars.
e.g. They appointed Professor Jones head of the department.
Pred. Adjunct to D.O

The Adjectival Type

e.g. That shop-assistant is tall/ (very) polite.
The Adjectives that feed these rules are either non-derived or deverbal, i.e. obtained by
the lexical transformation of Adjective from the Verb class.
Deverbal Adjectives that appear in Pred. Adj. position.
Part of them actually are adjectives from participles (-ing or en) some others are
derived by suffixation or prefixation.

29

Attitudinal verbs are an important source of Pred. Adjs. Basically they are transitive
verbs which evince a derivation from the general subject selection rules in that the
[+human] NP is taken as D.O, rather than Subject:
e.g. The idea surprised everybody present.
Subj. [-animate] [+causative] D.O [+human]
Other attitudinal verbs: please, frighten, puzzle, astonish, amaze, scare, delight,
disappoint, disgust, etc.
Their ing participles occur as Pred. Adjs. which take Prepositional Indirect Objects
expressing the Experiencer.
e.g. The idea was surprising to (cop. ^ Pred. Adj.) everybody present. (I.O [+human])
Reversion of the two terms -> Passivization:
e.g. Everybody present was surprised by the idea.
DO-> Subj.

BE+ -en ^v

Subj. -> PO

Past participles give rise to an interpretation as Cop ^ Pred. Adj.

e.g. The walls were painted.
The village was deserted.
A series of Pred. Adjs. are derived by suffixation of transitive verbs when D.O becomes
a Prepositional Obj. of the type of+NP:
e.g. to forget smth.-> (to be) forgetful of smth.
to hope smth.->(to be/ fell) hopeful of / about smth.
to envy smth.->(to be) envious of smth.

Subcategorization of the Adjective Class

30

Co-occurrence of adjectives with nouns which they modify or with copulas which they
help predicate determines a Subcategorization of adjectives:
a)

Exclusively predicative adjectives

b)
c)

Exclusively modifying adjectives

Adjectives that may occur in either position / function, but with meaning

differences.
a)

Exclusively predicative adjectives are made up of a series of adverb-like

adjectives prefixed by a and indicating states or conditions: ablaze, afraid, akin, alike,
alive, alone, asleep, awake, etc.
e.g. The whole building was ablaze.
He stood aghast at the terrible sight.
He was fast asleep.
Some of these Pred. Adjectives take Prepositional Objects (the Prep they require is
included into their lexical entries):
e.g. Pity is often akin to love.
The town was ablaze with lights.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
The rule feature [+/- Complementation] further subcategorizes these Pred. Adjs. Thus,
afraid, ashamed, awake may take complement clause:
e.g. I was afraid of hurting his feelings. (Ger. Cl)
She was afraid to wake her husband up. (Inf. Cl.)
Im afraid that I might hurt her feelings. (That Cl)
Most Pred. Adjectives may appear in derived configurations, as Predicative Adjunct to
the Direct Object. The respective constructions are [+causative]: to set a house ablaze.
If quantified, some of them may occur as Noun Modifiers: a half asleep person, a very
ashamed girl, a fully aware convict.
b)

Another group of Pred. Adjs. includes prepositional adjectives which can

never function as pre-nominal modifiers:

31

e.g. Is your child subject to colds? (a subject child)

Youngsters are fond of pop music.
Another

subcategory

includes

Prepositional

Pred.

Adjs.

which

are

[+

Complementation], the complement clause functioning as Prep. Obj. Clause:

e.g. Mary was glad of/about your success/ that you have succeeded.
I am always glad to meet your family. (Inf. Cl)
He is content with his present salary. (P.O)
Im sorry that I couldnt join you. (That Cl)
Exclusively modifying adjectives mainly consist of Adjectives hypothetically derived
from Adverbs or Avd Ps. in the source sentence: eventual, main, principal, utter, actual,
favourite, former, mere.
E.g. The main purpose of his enterprise has never been known.
Dont overestimate the actual importance of the election.
c. Many adjectives may appear in both positions, but with distinct meanings: slow,
hard, heavy, frequent, occasional, possible, apparent, traditional.
e.g. The march was slow
His child acts slowly

His luggage was heavy

He smoked heavily

the slow march

(His child is) a slow child.

a heavy luggage
He was a heavy smoker. (Adj NP)

A more complex derivational process underlies the so-called pseudo-adjectives which

may be: a) both predicative and modifying in one of the meanings; b) only modifying
when used with a different meaning:
e.g. She gave me a very civil answer/ her answer was very civil.

32

He specializes in civil engineering / * the engineering is civil.

Similarly, there occur Adjectives like dramatic in dramatic work/ criticism,
performance, atomic in atomic science. Exclusively modifying are past participles
which never occur in passive, such as departed and escaped.
e.g The guest have departed/ * The guests are departed, but
The departed guests.

Subcategorization of Predicative Adjectives

A)

Subcategorization as to the left term the NP Subject

1

Pred. Adjs. with impersonal it subjects, denoting weather, or characterizing

time, space, temperature:

It is frosty
It is very near.
It was too stuffy.
This it has a situational reference, which is never made definite.
2 Pred. Adjs. with clausal subject: necessary, possible, advisable, surprising,
unexpected, commonly appear in surface structure introduced by an anticipatory It
subject, while the Subject Clause is extraposed:
e.g [That he should act like a fool] is regrettable-> It is regrettable [that he should
act.] (it= formal subj.)
The adjectives: likely, sure, certain, etc predicate strings which can be converted into
two surface structure forms:
a)

It^ be^ Pred. Adj. ^ Cl.

b)

A complex S whose matrix clause has as Subject the subject of the subordinate

Subject Clause:
[HE IS LIKELY TO ARRIVE BEFORE NOON]
Raised Subject

Pred. Adj.

Subject Cl.

Adjectives like difficult, easy which predicate strings with the surface forms:
a)

It ^ be^ Pred. Adj. ^ Cl.

33

b)

A complex S whose Subject is the D.O of the Subject Clause.

e.g. This French sound is difficult to pronounce.

B)
Subcategorization as to the right term
Like verbs, adjectives may take Object NPs., which are exclusively Prepositional at the
deep structure level. The object NP may be:
1)
Non-clausal i) Indirect Object, the NP selected as such being [+human] and
the Preposition being to/for/of.
e.g. The lesson was too difficult for those beginners.
ii) Prepositional Object - the Pred. Adjs. taking [+abstract] Objects
e.g. Mary was afraid of nightmare/snakes.
Predicatives with Undeletable Preposition
a)
Of-phrases , occurring in rather fixed constructions such as:
They are of the same opinion.
The event was of a great importance.
Be ^ of has a possessive meaning.
b)
Prepositional NPs in which Preposition is not of.
About: It was 7 oclock and people were already about their business.
Above: His behaviour was above reproach.
Against: These recent steps are against the public interest.
At: Johns mother is at him again.
Before: He claimed he had been before me in that queue.
Behind: What could be behind his interest in my career?
Below: The quality of product should not be below the last years level.
Beside: Whoever did it is beside the point.
Between: This is strictly between you and me.
For: What is she for a woman, I wonder?
Predicatives with Deletable Preposition
A whole group including of NPs which indicates attributes connected with colour, size,
age, quality, shape may undergo Prep. Del. and thus result in zero article NP Predicates.
e.g. These shoes are (of) the right size.
She is (of) the same age.
The Predicative NPs above are all determined by definite articles and Post determiners.
Indefinite NPs may also occur in this position. (more seldom)
e.g. The leaves were (of) a dark shade.
The deletion process may extend over the article as well and the result is a zero article
NP:

34

e.g. Her family was of the poor class

Her family was poor class.

Reciprocal Copulative Predicates

Mary and Susan are alike.
All women are alike.
They are alike.
There is a relation of reciprocity between the terms that make up the Subject, neither of
them being subordinate to the other ones.
This selectional peculiarity can also be encountered with the reciprocal verb categories
including: agree, differ, resemble, mix, which confirm the hypothesis that the adjectives
are similar to verbs.

Predicative Adjectives further subcategorize as to the meaning and form of their

Reciprocal Object:
a)

Pred. Adjs. that indicate a positive reciprocal relationship: equal, join, married,

attached, engaged, close with to NPs.

b)
c)

Prep with or with / to: equivalent (with), identical (with), correlated(with/to)

Pred. Adjs. that indicate dissimilarity or other negative reciprocal distinctions,

all of which take the Preposition from: different, distinct, far, separate, isolated etc.

Non-copulative Intransitive Predications

Intransitive predicates minimally contain one NP the Subject of the sentence. These
will be considered to be simple intransitives.
If a second NP co-occurs with an intransitive verb, it can possibly be a Prepositional
NP, which functions as a Prepositional Object. A second possibility is for an intransitive
verb to take as an adjunct an Adverbial Modifier. Such intransitive configurations

35

including adjuncts of the kinds mentioned above as well as Predicative Adjuncts are
called complex intransitives.
Simple Intransitives
Simple intransitive verbs are what traditional grammars used to call verbs of complete
predication. Semantically they express events of all types: activities, processes or
states with reference to a wide range of possible subjects. Because of the fact that they
occur as one-place or one-term verbs, predicating an act pure and simple of some
particular person or thing, they are also called subjective verbs.
Syntactically, these predicates can take as optional adjuncts semantically independent
Prepositional Objects, as well as Adverbial Modifiers of various kinds:
e.g. The lilies have (splendidly) bloomed.(in my garden)- Manner Adv. / Place Adv.
The little boy has slept (two hours) Q. Adv. (this afternoon) - Time Adverb

Simple Intransitives with Particle

A relatively rich subcategory of intransitive verbs with no obligatory adjuncts groups
lexically complex items, made up of Verb and Adverbial Particle (traditionally labelled
as Complex Phrasal verbs). They evince a high degree of idiomaticity. The transition
from the structure verb ^ Adv. P to that of verb ^ Prt. is made by a subgroup of
intransitives that combine freely a number of Particles , mostly Directional ones.
e.g. A gang of thieves broke in last night.
The balloon went up.
The pilot took off smoothly.
Particles like along, away, back, by, down, forward, in, off, on, out, past, round,
through, under, up, etc. evince a whole scale of meaning values, from very concrete
ones, when they combine with verbs of motion, to very abstract ones, in combination
with most of the basic verbs in English.
Besides locative and directional particles, mention should be made of the aspectual
particles, which refer to the temporal dimension of the event.
e.g.
They set out to win support for their scheme.
A hostile reaction has set in. / The cold weather had set in.
The cars set off in a cloud of dust.
The durative aspect is rendered by on and away which are specialized for indicating the
continuation of the event.
e.g. He was laughing /grumbling away.
He passed away quietly at midnight.

36

Simple intransitives may derive from basically transitive verbs with particle, by means
of Object Deletion:
e.g. Moore throws in the ball near the half-line.
Moore throws near the half-line.
Another class of simple intransitives which evinces lexical complexity includes
intransitive verbs, which are inherently reflexive: absent oneself, perjure oneself. Some
of these verbs belong to the larger syntactic class of complex intransitives, in that they
take Prepositional Object: avail oneself of smth., pride oneself on smth.

Complex Intransitives
Complex intransitives are two-place verbs, i.e. they take two obligatory co-occurent
phrases: the Subject NP as a left neighbour of verb and the Predicative Adjunct /
Prepositional Object /Adverbial Modifier as a right neighbour.
e.g. A gang of thieves broke into Smiths house last night.
The company has fallen into dispute in recent years.
Intransitives with Particle and Preposition: the class includes phrasal Verbs which
take a fixed Preposition followed by its object:
e.g. They had done away with this piece of legislation.
I cannot put up with his interruption.
In between the Particle and the Prepositional Object there may be inserted Adverbs of
Manner:
e.g. They had done away reluctantly with this piece of legislation.
We put up cheerfully with these interruptions.
Intransitives with a Prepositional Indirect Object
Several subclasses of intransitives, among which eventive Vs., experience Vs.,
relational Vs., take an Indirect Object marked by the Preposition to.
e.g Whats happened to the old man?
The experience type verbs are seem, appear, occur, sound, taste.
e.g. How does it seem to you?
That possibility had never occurred to anyone.
Intransitives with two Prepositional Objects
A number of intransitive Vs may be followed by two PNPs, Prepositional Object
Deletion often applies.

37

e.g. Ill speak to the manager about my future projects.

Other verbs are: argue with somebody about, discuss with smb. about smth., disregard
with smb. about smth., quarrel with smb. about smth.
Some intransitive verbs are used with Adverbial Modifiers, those denoting existence in
space such as be, remain, lie, sit, stand.

e.g The man was standing by the window.

The man was lying on the ground.
Intransitivization
One can speak of a floating phenomenon which goes both ways, from transitives to
intransitives and vice versa.
In order to derive an intransitive configuration, a verb which is basically transitive has
to lose its D.O by the deletion of the D.O if their object NP is more or less specialized
semantically.
e.g. Whenever I see her, she is smoking (cigarettes->none)
Another process by which transitives are made intransitive is that in which the D.O is
promoted rather than demoted. This occurs in active-passives and in genuine passive
constructions. What happens is that the deep Object is pre-posed in Subject position.
The former Object comes to acquire some of the Subject properties (position, casemarking, agreement trigger).
Eg. This material washes well.
Intransitivization can be characterized more generally as a process of term reduction.
Deep structure configurations with the primary terms - Subject and Direct Object - turn
into one-term sentences.

Transitive Predications
1. Simple transitive verbs are transitive verbs with one object -Direct Object.

38

The greatest majority of transitive verbs in English express human activities, events in
which humans play an agentive part being initiators and controllers of actions or
processes which affect or effect concrete entities - physical objects or substances.
e.g. *John cut/ dropped [that cl]

The first subclass includes monotransitives which indicate activities associated with
affected objects: accumulate (goods, a library), adapt, adjust, decorate, air (the room).
A subcategory apart includes verbs which take as direct objects parts of the human
body: bite (ones tongue), bump (ones head), clap (hands), clean, cock, snap, fix, nod,
drag.
A special type are verbs with effected/ resultative object which are so called Cognate
Object, taken by inherently intransitive verbs, that re-categorize, in this way, as
transitives: to dream a melancholy dream, to smile an amiable smile, to sleep the sleep
of the just.
Some transitive verbs, like MAKE are characterized by a wide range of co-occurrence
possibilities, materialized syntactically in the non-clausal or clausal object and
semantically in the selection of [+concrete] or [+abstract] NPs.
Make with [+concrete] effected object: to make bread/coffee/a fire/clothes/tea/a toy,
a.s.o. This make often enters ditransitive configurations, in which the resultative object
is followed by a for Indirect Object indicating the beneficiary:
e.g. She was very fond of making toys for her little boy.
Make with [+ abstract] effected object: to make amends/arrangements/a change/a
decision/a demand/a difference/an effort/ a request.
In many of the instances included here make occurs as a quasi-dummy verb, the
meaning being mainly carried by the resultative object.
The latter is often a nominal derived from the verb that corresponds to the whole
combination:
-to make arrangements=to arrange

39

- to make a promise=to promise

-to make a request=to request
-to make a sacrifice= to sacrifice oneself
The nominals derived from the respective meaningful verbs express the result of the
activity or process; despite the synonymy with the corresponding verb, there appear
several differences between the two ways of rendering the same meaning:
a)

The dummy vb+Obj. of result sometimes differs aspectually from the purely

verbal one:
e.g. Promise to come back!
Make a promise to come back!
By nominalization, the resulting NP acquires most of the specific N features and
adjuncts. Thus, countability is very obviously realised by the specialized determiners:
e.g. He made a profit of shilling on every article sold.
MAKE can also occur with a more abstract meaning than the `manufacturing`
meaning. It is one of the important general causative verbs in English and syntactically,
it becomes (+complementation) in this case. Causative make takes a [+abstract] Direct
Object, expressed by an Infinitival Clause.
e.g. His gestures would make [everybody laugh]

DO co-occurs less than Make with [+concrete] objects, which is partly explainable by
the absence of the `manufacturing` meaning. DO is semantically specialised for
rendering the performance of certain activities such as writing, cooking, cleaning, etc
and the object is either affected or effected.
e.g. Mr. Booth does the fiction for the Saturday Review.
She does her hair every 3 days.
I have a lot of correspondence to do. (read /write letters)

40

DO- may be a ditransitive verb which takes [+abstract] Direct Objects in a great
number of dative construction: to do smb. credit/ a favour, to do smb. harm, to do smb.
honour.
-DO and Make only very seldom vary freely as in: to make/to do a copy; to make/to do
a translation.
-DO never takes clausal Direct Objects
-DO, unlike Make is a VP substitute, i.e. it is a pro-form which, in combination with
the neuter pronoun it or the pro-adjective/adverb so, may be used anaphorically to
replace a whole VP antecedent:
e.g. Tom has asked me to write him a letter as soon as I arrive in Paris, but I dont
think Ill be able to do it before next week.
A relatively small number of monotransitives with [+concrete] Direct Object denote the
use of an instrument for the performance of a certain activity.
e.g. Tom refused to show Peter how to handle the gun.
Another limited group of monotransitives, with [+concrete] Direct Object express
position or movement in space. The directional or locative meaning is incorporated into
the meaning of the respective verb: to enter a place, to approach a place (get near), to
inhabit a flat, to join a club (get in), to leave a town (depart from), to reach a
destination (arrive at).
The next subcategory includes other classes of verbs which take an inanimate Direct
Object. The group includes: to accept (a gift/idea), to acknowledge (a parcel/ truth), to
approach (a place or a topic), to claim (a lost object/ a right), to analyse (a substance
or a cause), to collect (stamps or ones thoughts), to deny (a signature or a proposal),
to examine (a paper). Some of them are marked by [+complementation].
Transitives verbs which occur only with [+abstract] objects will be themselves
subdivided into those which are [-complementation] and those which may appear as
[+complementation]:

41

a)

[-complementation] Vt with abstract D.O: abrogate (a law), accomplish (a task)

achieve (a purpose), adopt (a method), control (prices), contract (a marriage,

friendship)
b)

[+/- complementation] Vt with abstract D.O: mental process verbs and verbs of

linguistic communication: admit, advise, announce, believe, consider, declare, dream,

fancy, learn, prove, propose, realize, suppose, suggest, think etc
The verbs in the class below take [+animate] Subjects, but evince no selectional
restrictions for the NP- Direct Object.

Verbs of liking or disliking: to admire (a person, object, a plan), to love (a

person, a country, comfort), appreciate (someone, a gesture), like or dislike (a
person, a thing or an idea) etc.

Mental process verbs: know, remember, forget

Sense perception verbs: to hear someone/ some noise, some news.
Relational verbs (to have, lose, miss, abandon, adopt)
Causative: to change oneself, ones baby, ones clothes, the furniture)

Causative verbs
Causative verbs (periphrastic, lexical, morphological) are transitive verbs inherently
marked by [+causative] or intransitive ones recategorized as transitives and occurring
contextually as causatives. They express either mere causation of an event (cause,
determine, have, make, set) or an event in which causation is implied, e.g. kill (cause
smb. to die), teach (cause smb. to learn), show (cause smb. to see).
Causative meaning has a number of overt grammatical realizations. Thus all causative
constructions are transitive, owing to the fact that causation always implies two
participants:

A causer and

An affected or effected entity.

42

They are expressed by two NPs, of which one is selected as Subject and the other one
as Object:
e.g. The war caused great human losses.
NP1=causer Vt [+caus] NP2= effected

By passivization the effected entity may become Subject and the causer Prepositional
Object:
e.g. Great human losses were caused by the war.
While it is true that only transitive verb constructions may render causative meaning, it
is also true that not all causative verbs are inherently transitive. There are intransitive
verbs that behave contextually like transitive causatives.
In point of selectional restrictions, causative may take a Subject NP characterized by
one of the three kinds of semantic-syntactic features:
a) A [+animate] NP, expressing the agent or animate causer of the action, process or
state:
e.g. Tristam ^ caused ^ the cheese ^ to become ^ a paste.
[+causer]

[+causative] [+ affected] [+inchoative] [+ affected]

[+animate] [+controlled] [-animate/+abstract]

[-animate/-abstract]

b) A [-animate], [-abstract] NP, expressing physical Object that operates as an

instrumental causer:
e.g. The mixer ^ caused ^ the cheese to become a paste
[+causer]

[+causative]

[-animate]
[-abstract]

43

c) A [-animate], [+/- abstract] NP, expressing an exterior cause which is neither

directly nor indirectly controlled.
e.g. The heat ^ in the room ^ caused ^ the cheese to become a paste.
The Direct Object NP may have the following features:
a)[+animate] and [+/- human]
e.g. She fed her dog macaronis.(=caused her dog to eat macaronis)
The [+human] D.O. may be followed by a Prepositional Object introduced by the
preposition into:
e.g. The war turned Bob into a coward.
(Paraphrase: The war caused Bob to become a coward)
a)

The D.O may be a [-animate], [-abstract] NP.

e.g. He felled ^ some trees in the forest.

The accident ^ caused ^ great damage to the car.
The D.O expressing the affected physical object may be followed by a Prepositional
Object marked into:
e.g. The storm broke the window into pieces.
The D.O may be followed by an Adverbial of Place.
e.g. Janet laid the ash-tray on the table.
(Paraphrase: Janet caused the ash-tray to lie on the table)
The D.O may also be a [-animate] , [+abstract] NP
e.g. The Renaissance brought about a new outlook.
(Paraphrase: The Renaissance caused a new outlook to appear)
The verb CAUSE is the most general causative; it may select any types of causer and
any kind of affected entity as Subject of the D.O:
e.g. Sarah caused her fianc a car accident.

44

A dynamite explosive caused his car accident.

His own carelessness caused his car accident.
The verbs MAKE, HAVE and GET, often called in traditional grammars causative
auxiliaries are specialized for rendering the idea of a persons instigation to action by
another person. Grammatically, they only take a clausal D.O, having as Subject in the
active form the person expected to execute the commanded action:
e.g. Johns parents caused /got [him to marry a rich girl]
Johns parents made/had [him marry a rich girl]

Periphrastic Causatives: cause, determine, make, have, get.

Semantically, they render the idea of causation quite neutrally, with the exception of
have and get which may take an additional range of compulsion or order and can only
take an animate, agentive causer as Subject NP:
e.g. I shall have the boy re-write the exercise five times.
The complex verb to bring about also belongs here but with the meaning of: produce,
generate.
The main characteristics of periphrastic causatives which differentiate them from the
subcategories of lexical and morphological causatives are the following ones:

The absence of a corresponding intransitive verb for each;

The participation in ampler syntactic constructions which often include a

Direct Object Clause;

Their productivity in present-day English.

Lexical Causatives
Lexical Causatives form pairs with intransitive verbs, denoting the resultative aspect of
the respective activity, process or state by means of a lexically distinct item.

45

a)

Caesar died.

b)

Brutus killed Caesar.

The verb die occurs as one-term verb, taking the Patient as Subject. The same Patient
occurs as Object of its causative counterpart kill, which is a two-term verb, with an
Agent as Subject. The relation between the transitive and intransitive verb
configurations is localized, in that the possibility of using the same V lexeme: Brutus
died Caesar.
This is the main difference between the verbs in this class and those belonging to the
ergative class, which evince no lexical differences when used transitively or
intransitively:
e.g. Our foreign trade is developing.(Vi)

Vi=Vt

We are developing our foreign trade. (Vt)

Here are some more members of this class, with the paraphrase including the
corresponding intransitive verb (the paraphrase is a discontinuous expression based on
the periphrastic CAUSE:
-convince=cause smb. to believe
-persuade= cause smb. to believe or act
-remind= cause smb. to remember
-teach= cause smb. to learn
-give= cause smb. to have smth.
The same type of semantic-syntactic relation between a Vt and a Vi characterizes a
number of pairs of verbs, which are closely similar phonologically. The transitive V in
each has developed historically out of intransitive one as a causative counterpart:
Vi

Vt

Fall

- fell (cause smth. to fall)

Lie

- lay (cause smth. to lie)

46

Sit

- set (cause smth. to sit)

Bite

- bait ( cause smth to bite)

Drink - drench (cause smth. to be wet)

Morphological causatives
A great number of causative transitives are converted from adjectives which denote an
attribute acquired as a result of a cause. Most of these verbs can also be used
intransitively with an inchoative meaning. The word-formation process may be:

Conversion: She cooled the soup.(Adj->V; paraphrase: She caused the soup to
be cool)

Other derivatives: to bare, black, blind, calm, clean, clear, dry, empty, free.
Affixation subdivided into: a) prefixation: BE-: becalm, belittle; DIS-:
discontent, disjoint, disanimate; EN: enlarge, enrich, ennoble. b) Suffixation:
-ate: activate, differentiate; -ify: amplify, happify, solidify; -ize: civilize,
americanize, legalize, fertilize; -en: blacken, darken, deeper, fasten, harder,
shorten, soften, widen.

Attitudinal causatives/ Experience Causatives

Transitive attitudinal Verbs are also [+causative] as they express a psychological

reaction aroused in a human being by an exterior stimulus. The causer occurs as Subject
of S, The Experiencer as D.O.
e.g. The news puzzled everybody.

Dative Causatives
This subcategory includes causatives that take two objects, one of which is indirect:
-give=cause smb. to have

47

-sell= cause smb. to buy

-send= cause smb. to receive
From among the transitive non-causative verbs that have developed a causative
meaning we shall mention: earn, lose, lead, win.
e.g. She led him a dogs life.
The poem has earned him a great rename
The trick won him the game.

Complex Transitives (Transitives with two Adjuncts)

A few subcategories of Vt s take a post D.O. obligatory adjunct, functioning as
Predicative Adjunct / Indirect Object/ Prepositional Object/ Adverbial Modifier (of
Manner, Place, Quantity, etc). These Vt configurations are not to be mistaken for the
lexically complex ones, which include verbal phrases that behave like single units.

Transitives with Prepositional Object

Their syntactic function is that of Prepositional Object.
The greatest majority take abstract Prepositional Objects which are realizable by a That
Clause. Semantically, most of these verbs denote inter-human relationships: acquaint
smb.with something; advise smb. of/about something; blame smb. for something,
congratulate smb. on/for something; convince smb. of something, inform smb. of/about
something; warn smb. of/about something.
They blamed Tony for their failure.
Complementation is possible with some of them: convince, inform, remind, warn (the
complement Cl function as Prepositional Object).
He informed/ warned me that the test was going to be very difficult.
48

Reflexivization is possible with some of them, if the subject NP is co- referent with the
Object NP.
He would blame himself for the accident.
Transitives with Particle
Transitives with Adverbial Part subcategorize as the rule feature for the local
transformation of Particle Movement .
1.

Verbs with Optional Particle Movement:

The Particle basically precedes the Object NP; it is moved optionally in post Object
position if the NP is non-pronominal and obligativity, if the NP is a personal pro - form.
The man filled in the application incorrectly.=> Particle Movement =>
The man filled the application in incorrectly.
There are some other strings in the domain of Particle Movement: to break down, to
clean out (a room), to play back (a programme); to wake up (a story), to bring up (the
children).
As a result of Nominalization, hyphenated or non-hyphenated compounds may be
obtained; they behave like the ones derived from intransitives with Particle:
The travel agentt made a complete mess-up of our bookings.
The accountant did a break down of expenditure.

Transitives with Obligatory Particle Movement

The subcategory includes verbs which never take the Prt. as immediate

neighbour surface structure: the Object NP always precedes the Part as a result of Part
Movement.

49

The government will see the crisis through.

Other contexts include, for instance, to knock (a blow) off; to throw (the ball) in.

Transitives with No Particle Movement

Except in cases when the Object is a pro-form, the verb Prt. combination does

not allow Prt. Mov.

The search party has given up all hope.

Transitives with Particle and Preposition

The last category is that of transitive V Prt. combinations that are followed by a

PNP functioning as Prepositional Object. In most cases Prt Mov is obligatory.

We brought them around to a different way of thinking.
1) Obj

Prt

Obj

There are some other verb contexts of the same type: to bring subject up

against something; to put subject up to something; to put subject down to something.

They were brought around to a different way of thinking.
Recategorization of Intransitives as Transitives or Transitivizations

Intransitive verbs recategorized as transitive by their affected object include: to

cry (tears), flash (fire), shine (a light)

She put her arms down and cried quiet tears.

50

An interesting recategorization which may acquire a metaphorical use occurs in

the case of impersonal weather verbs:

It rained a November drizzle.

Syntactic Relations
NP Functions
THE SUBJECT
Basic Subject Properties
Semantically, basic Ss are less meaning dependent on other (sentential) structures than
non-basic Ss are: The sentence The parrot spoke is semantically more independent (i.e.
we understand it without recourse to another S) than I was surprised that the parrot
spoke/ at the fact the parrot spoke.
Ss in this set cannot be understood unless we understand the simpler, basic S we
mentioned first. Basic Ss are also characterized by semantic simplicity, they are the
semantically primitive Ss of a language, mostly declarative and affirmative.
Formally, basic Ss exhibit the greatest morphological and syntactic potential of the Ss
in a language:
a). the greatest range of markers for the categories pertaining to their essential
constituents;
b). the greatest privileges of occurrence;
c). syntactically they will lend themselves most easily to the main syntactic process in
language.
Another characteristic of basic Ss is related to their minimal degree of structural
ambiguity. The fact that the basic structures are in general unambiguous can be
accounted for by their constituency properties: having fewer constituents than
compound Ss, they evince fewer possibilities for the interpretation.
English turns out to be more subject-oriented than other languages.

51

To illustrate, Romanian is less subject-oriented than English in that the presence of the
Subject in surface structure, as well as its fixed position are not among the obligatory
subject properties of Romanian, while they are so in English.
The object can be tentatively defined by taking into account the extent to which an NP
in a S has the properties pragmatic, semantic and syntactic.
1). Independent Existence
The property refers to the independent existence of the entity exposed by the basic
sentence as to the action of property exposed by the predicate. Some of the non
subject terms, more especially the objects, denote effected entities, whose existence is
rather dependent on the act expressed by the predicating verb:
e.g. A very ingenious designer has built up this telephone model.
The entity this telephone model results from the very act of building up, which has
been performed by the entity grammatically exposed by the NP Subject a very
ingenious designer.
The independence is apparent only in the case of some V subcategories, whose
semantics is based on a certain orientation as in the case of causative verbs (oriented
from causer the Subject to affected or effected entity the Direct Object).
Indispensability. The property refers to the fact that a non-subject term may, under
certain conditions, be deflected from the surface string, while a Subject cannot remain
unexpressed.
John writes poems for a living.
John writes poems.
John writes for a living.
* writes poems.
d) Autonomous Reference. It is a rather undeniable fact that the reference of the NP
Subject in basic sentences is to be determinated pragmatically, that is by a certain
addressee and at a certain moment of a speech act performance. This reference does not
depend on the reference of other NP-s that follow it.
e) Subjects in basic sentences are controllers of coreference phenomena in the
following two ways:
1. Control of reflexive pronouns
52

2. Control of coreferential deletions and of pronominalization.

Beatrix quarreled with Helen for almost an hour and then she decided to leave the
room.
Beatrix quarreled with Helen for almost an hour and then [symbol] decided to leave
the room.
f) Absolute Reference is connected with the truth value of the basic S versus the
reference property of the Subject NP. This means, more especially, a concrete or
abstract entity which is referred to or has the property expressed by the basic Subject.
John bought a present for the prime minister.
John is talking about the perfect woman.
There is a requirement for the NP. Subject to refer to some entity, in this case to refer
uniquely to the person called John. The same is not true for the other NP in the
respective sentences there is no requirement that there exist the prime minister, the
perfect woman.
In strings such as It is snowing/ drizzling which are generally considered as basic, the
subject NP is dummy, i.e. non referential.
g) Topic. In basic sentences, the Subject functions as Topic, i.e. it identifies what the
speaker is talking about. It normally carries the given information, thus functioning as
Comment. Consequently, the nominal phrase in subject position more often than not
contains anaphoric items specialized for signaling given information definite articles
or demonstratives.
h) Definiteness of Reference. Subjects are very often expressed by highly referential
NP-s, such as personal or demonstrative pronouns, as well as proper names. In some
languages subjects have to be definite, while objects have to be indefinite. In English
this property becomes more obvious if we associate it with the Topic property. The
Topic has to be definite for the progress of communication. Indefinite NP-s
introducing new information are, in general, evident. If no definite NP can be placed in
subject position in such sentences, a dummy subject is preferred. This accounts for
insertion transformations, such as There Insertion.

53

A bowl was on the shelf => There was a bowl on the shelf.
[- def]

[def]

THERE INSERTION
1.

There Insertion reorders the deep Subject as to some verbal part of the VP (the

Aux, the head of MV).

2.

The Dative Transformation reorders the two Objects taken by alternative verbs:

Indirect Object is promoted in the position specific to DO in deep structure. Besides, an

operation of Preposition Deletion makes the deep I.O. lose its to/for marker.
3.

The Passive Transformation reorders the deep Subject and Object (Direct,

Indirect, Prepositional).
There in Traditional Approaches
There is discussed in scholarly traditional grammars as well as it, as one of the two
possible anticipating Subjects in English.
The Domain of There Insertion
There insertion applies mostly to strings predicated by intransitive verb subcategories,
among which existential verbs (be, happen, occur, exist, live), verbs of seeming (seem,
appear), aspectual verbs (begin, start, remain), verbs of motion (come, run, arrive,
etc.).
Very few configurations may undergo this transformation, e.g. the verbs need, want and
require.
e.g.

There needed/wanted/required two more months to carry it through.

Passive sentences may turn into there construction owing to the presence of auxiliary
BE. Besides, continuous verbs forms, be they transitive or intransitive, may yield
there constructions.

54

The verb BE prevails in the domain of this transformation. All configurations whose
predicate contains one of the following types of BE occurrences: main verb
(existential BE), auxiliary (be as a marker of Aspect the continuous or Voice the
Passive), configurations predicated by copulative verb BE
1) There will be an adequate supply of goals

| existential be

2) There are fairies at the bottom of the garden | =>locative existential be

3) There was a lady asking for help.

| auxiliary be occurrence

4) There has been a deer killed by a poacher. | for the Cont. Aspect and Passive Voice
5) There was a concerto being played by a famous cellist. => combination of the
Continuous Passive
The common feature of those examples, besides the presence of a BE verb, is the
indefiniteness of their Subject NP-s.
Other Verbs in the Domain
As far as the verb is concerned, the domain of Insertion also includes verbs other than
BE:
There appeared some marks on the X-ray plates.
There happened to be a few students in the hall.
There occurred an unexpected incident during the meeting.
There came a stranger who broke the news to us.
There existed some poor families in that district.
There once lived in this flat an excentric lady.
There resulted a big discrepancy between their testimony and ours.
There were arising new progressive forces in those years.
There seemed to be no escape.
The Indefinite Subject NP Condition
Starting from a sentence such as: The small dog was in the yard, the following
ungrammatical string results if we apply There Insertion:
*There was the small dog in the yard.
The main condition for this transformation to apply is the indefiniteness of the NP
functioning as deep Subject. Indefinite reference of this NP may be realized by
55

indefinite Determiners (a, any, some) as well as the zero article. The determiner may
incorporate negation:
There was no trace left by the thieves.
There will be no other changes in the document.
The determiner may be numerically specified or an indefinite Quantifier:
There are two cakes on the dish.
There is much noise in the street.
Indefinite Pro-forms may function as Subjects of there constructions (anything,
something, everything, nothing). Quite often they are followed by Adj. P:
There was something wrong/nothing wrong in her behaviour.
There isnt anything new in the article.
There was something add in his conduct.
The definite article may appear as a constituent of the NP-Subject in a limited number
of contexts. Thus, it may be part of the Determiner Phrase (Determiner +
Postdeterminer) as in:
There was the same man in front of the gate.
There is the other delegate taking the floor.
Exceptionally though, there constructions may have a [+definite] Subject in the
context of an existential question asking for (supplementary) information. Sometimes
the answer consists of an enumeration of definitely determined NP, as in:
Question: What else is there in that drawer?
Answer: There is the rubber, the red pencil and the writing paper.
There are some more contexts in which the definite Subject can be encountered:
There has arisen the new problem of the status of the worker in his own tradeunion.
Determiners occur because of the modifier phrase which further specifies the meaning
of the indefinite NP. That is why examples of this kind are considered apparent
exceptions. The deep Subject is indefinite in deep structure and undergoes a
transformation of definitization as a result of its being modified by a clausal or nonclausal Noun Modifier.

56

The Transformation of There Insertion

This transformation consists of two operations:
1.

Movement of the Subject NP into the VP. Relationally, this means that the deep

Subject becomes a Non-term, as it ceases to bear a GR to its verb.

2.

Insertion of the expletive THERE in the position left empty by the moved

Subject. The inserted dummy item THERE becomes Subject of the S.

Agreement in THERE sentences is always with deep Subject:
There is a man at the front door.
sg

sg

There are three men at the front door.

pl

pl

The syntactic status of THERE

In traditional grammars dummy THERE is often discussed in correlation with the
Adverb whose homophone it is. In GT frame no such relation is established, owing to
the completely divergent syntactic properties of the two items. Thus dummy there is
immediately dominated of the node S, which lends it the function of surface subject,
while the deictic Place Adverbial is dominated by the VP node. In a way there is
similar, by the anticipatory role, to the surface subject it, inserted transformationally,
as a dummy theme of the sentence. The difference between these two items precisely
lies in the fact that it may be assigned to a class of words (the pro-forms), while
there is hard to class morphologically. As different from the adverb there, it is
unstressed and may co-occur with place adverbials, there included:
There was a man there waiting for you.
Adv
The stressed adverb may appear in front position as in:
There is the accident!
We shall supply below the main arguments supporting the Subject status of the dummy
there at the level of the surface structure:
The behaviour of there in questions (question tags included)
57

a)

Are there three cats on the roof? (derived from the affirmation sentence)
There are three cats on the roof.

b)

There are three cats on the roof, arent there?

In both a) and b) there behaves like a subject, i.e. it undergoes inversion with the verb
(in this case, existential be)
1. The occurrence of there as Subject in finite clauses (relative clauses in which the
realized constituent is not subject of the clause) and non-finite ones (infinitive,
participial or gerundial):
I eventually read the article about which there had been so many divergent
commentaries.
For there to be so much time left/bothers me.
There being so much time left bothers me.
2. Raising applies on sentences with seem and happen:
There seemed/ happen to be no one in the hall.
3. The behaviour of there is non-inverted so patterns:
John said there would be a commotion and so there was.
4. The behaviour of there is negative or restrictive emphatic sentences:
Never has there been such an opposition.
Hardly was there any time left.

Parallel Structures with IT and THERE

It an There often share the feature of forward reference to the real subject they
anticipate. The difference here lies in the tendency of it to anticipate [+def] Subjects,
while there usually anticipates indefinite ones
Its time we left (The time has come for us to leave)
There is time, we neednt hurry (There is enough time; notice the deletion of
enough)
Impersonal Subject constructions have alternative forms with it or there as
Subject:
It frosted heavily last night =><=There was a heavy frost last night.
58

If we compare the two patterns, we notice the [-stative] feature of the it construction
which makes use of the respective weather verb; as different from it the there
pattern in stative, it being predicated by the existential verb BE and its real subject
being the nominalized weather verb/ a heavy frost.
It sentences with complement clauses may also have two variants:
It is possible for them not to know the whole truth =><= It is no use doing this
=><= There is no use doing this.
There is a/ the possibility of their not knowing the whole truth.
There sentences may also contain gerundial clauses introduced by prepositions, such
as:
There is no use/ good in saying/ of your saying such a thing.
THERE in Complex S
There occurs as a Subject not only in simple sentences, but also in Complex ones.
Thus, starting from the deep structure:
[An accident to have been in the street] seemed.
We can obtain, after There-Insertion in the embedded Subject Clause, and Raising of
the formal Subject there:
There seemed to have been an accident in the street.
A similar surface structure results if we start from deep string predicated by transitive
V-s than allow S/O Raising:
Someone believed [an accident to have been in the street]
We shall obtain the following surface string after There Insertion in the DO Clause,
Raising and Passivization:
There was believed to have been an accident in the street.

59

THE DIRECT OBJECT

The main syntactic function discharged by NP constituents at the level of the
Verb Phrase is that of Object. The government relation holding between the predicating
verbs and its right-hand neighbor the Object may be of two distinct kinds:
a. Direct or non-oblique, if the V governs a non-prepositional NP at the deep structure
level. The function of the NP is that of a Direct Object and it actualizes the
subcategorial regime of transitive verbs. There are non-prepositional NPs that may
occur on the right of the main verb in surface structure. Their functions may be that of
derived non-prepositional object (the Indirect Object), or Adverbial Modifier.
b. Oblique, if the V governs a prepositional NP at the deep structure level. If the PNP
co-occurs with the V as part of its basic non-categorial regime, then the possible
functions of this PNP are:
1.

Indirect Object, if the preposition is the dative to or for;

2.

Prepositional Object, if the preposition is other than the dative to/for

PNP-s may also occur at Sentence or VB level as free, therefore, optional adjuncts (the
Indirect Object functioning as Sentence Dative, or Prepositional Objects, as well as
Adverbial Modifiers whose NP is governed by a meaningful preposition.
In pre-theoretical grammars the Direct Object was frequently labeled as Accusative
Object. Despite this label, Curme, for instance, points out that the form (case) markers
are irrelevant for this function, as in: They chose him (acc.) king; versus They chose
him (dat.) a wife. Therefore, morphologically, the only distinction recoverable is that
between the nominative pronominal forms and the objective forms.
Semantically, the Direct Object is said to express the goal, the real object of the
activity, or the thing representing the goal.
The former corresponds to affected object (the object affected by the activity) and the
latter to the effected object (the real object of the activity, i.e. its result).

60

The Thematic Structure Perspective

Somewhat related to the case-frame is the theory of Thematic Relations. Theme is
defined (by Gruber, Anderson) as the logical topic of the S, what the S is about. Thus,
identifying the theme is considered as part of the process of semantic interpretation.
According to the Theme Rule formulated by Anderson, the theme is in Subject position
if the verb is intransitive and in Direct Object position if the verb is transitive.
Consequently, if an NP occupying the DO position in a basic S is shifted into some
other position, such as that of an Oblique Object or Adverbial, it ceases to be a Theme.
The poet read his poem => The poet read from his poem
The farmer plowed the field => The farmer plowed in the field.

61

THE DATIVE TRANSFORMATION

Contemporary English includes in its range of surface structure sentence configuration
pairs of sentences predicated by intransitive verbs which evince a great semantic
similarity, coupled with a regular syntactic dissimilarity. The former consists in the
transfer meaning of the verb and the recipient/ beneficiary meaning of the animate
(personal) Object; the latter lies in word order peculiarities (the position of the animate
Object as to the V and the DO) and the presence versus absence of the preposition to or
for (functioning as a case marker for the Dative).
a). Father gave a new toy book to little Bob.
b). Father gave little Bob a new toy book.
a). Father bought a new toy book for little Bob.
b). Father bought little Bob a new toy book.
In traditional approaches such configurations are studied first of all in the Morphology
section, when Dative is discussed as a case and secondly in the Syntax section, more
precisely under the heading Indirect Object and, in some grammars, under Prepositional
Object as well.
Diachronically speaking we should notice the disappearance in Middle English of the
old inflectional dative, which was superseded (a nlocui) by the preposition to. Besides
its directional meaning in O.E., this preposition acquired an abstract locative sense.
We sent a book parcel to Paris
We sent a book parcel to our old aunt.
In the second case, the directional meaning is associated with the change of possession
meaning: the animate Object our old aunt designates the person who will come into
possession of the parcel, while Paris simply represents a destination point.
We should also notice the coexistence in O.E. of verbs with a single accusative object
and verbs with a single dative object which resulted in a competition of the two.

62

The old dative used as a single object expressed a person as involved in an activity
directed toward him. The accusative object used to denote a person or thing affected by
a certain activity. The formal differences between the two cases were gradually leveled
down, so that verbs that used to govern the dative, among which advise, believe, help,
injure, oppose, please, serve came to be used with an accusative object.
The dative object survived with verbs that select a personal object like apologize,
complain, occur/ come to smbs mind, belong, pertain to smb, remain, fall to smb. The
dative NP used with these verbs is considered to function as a special kind of Indirect
Object.
Considering the Indirect Object function, three distinctions are commonly made,
namely:
1).The Dative of Reference The Object denotes in this case a personal point of
view with respect to the prepositional content of the sentence. The dative case is used
with the noun which takes in its scope the whole sentence, and which designates the
referent for which the statement holds true.
a. For him, to submit would be quite shameful.
b. To me, he is a great hero.
c. That is nothing to her.
a. The fact seemed incredible to me.
b. It looks to me as if the shirt is too long.
In (a) BE is completely asemantic, while in b) it is a near synonym of transitives like to
mean or to represent. These verbs take an Experience which occurs as a Dative Object.
In the second set, the predicates are verbs of seeming or of sense perception which,
like mean take an Experience that occurs as a to Dative Object.
1)

The Dative of Interest

English Noun Phrase in the Dative case may also express the person to whose
advantage or disadvantage an action takes place.
The for NP Object is more frequently used to express advantageous events:
His heart beat for all humanity.
To Objects occur with both semantic values. Sometimes, from is used to express clearly
the idea of disadvantage.
He stole the purse from the old woman.
63

On dative is specialized for the idea of disadvantage.

He shut the door on me.
He has gone back on me.
The Dative of Interest often occurs as a prepositionless NP:
He has already done me a lot of harm.
John lent Susan his dictionary.
She made her boy a new coat.
2)

The Ethical Dative

This is a prepositionless form which was by far more frequent in older Engl. than it is
used today. It denotes the person who is likely to have an emotional or sympathetic
interest in the respective statement:
Now heed me what I say.
This usage is very limited

The Dative Movement Transformation

Standard GT approaches describe Dative Movement as a transformation that applies on
the V- NP to/for NP sequence producing a structural change which consists of:
a)

Deletion of the Prep. to or for

b)

Reordering of the two postverbal NP-s

Mary gave a collection of old stamps to her best friend.
D.O

I.O

Mary gave to her best friend a collection of old stamps.

I.O

D.O

Mary gave her best friend a collection of old stamps.

I.O

DO

Dative is also ordered as to the Passive rule. The I.O. is promoted as subject of
sentence. The preposition does not appear in the passive string.
64

I promised to John a scholarship.

John was promised a scholarship.
Dative also interrelates with the local transformation of Particle Movement.
The man paid back his loan to the bank.
The man paid his loan back to the bank.
The man paid the bank back his loan.
Mary has brought down some cigars for George.
Mary has brought some cigars down for George.
Mary has brought George down some cigars.
This optional transformation can only move the Prt. after the Object NP immediately
following the V.

Dative Construction and other Transformations

Besides Passive and Particle Movement, Dative sentences are also sensitive to:
a. Object Deletion - In most cases, either the D.O or the I.O may be deleted
John has bought some flowers (I.O. del. for smb./ for Mary/ for himself)
He will hand in the paper tomorrow (I.O. del. = to his teacher)
D.O. deletion occurs by far less frequently, but it is quite possible with a number of
verbs:
She hasnt written (to) us for ages (D.O. = a letter)
Has he paid you? (D.O. = the money)
Will he sell to whoever wants to buy (D.O. = goods)
D.O deletion is blocked with some verbs, after Dative has applied (in other words, the
prepositionless construction is only possible when a D.O. is present)
Susan read a story to little Tom.
Susan read little Tom a story.
65

Susan read to little Tom.

*Susan read little Tom.
b) Object NP Pronominalization. If DO is a personal Pro. N., Dative is generally
blocked.
I offered it to John.
*I offered John it.
In case I.O is a Pro-form, Dative Movement seems to be facilitated by the shortness of
the item:
I sold my old bicycle to him =>Dat. Mov.=> I sold him my old bicycle.
If both Objects are Pro-forms, Dative is blocked:
I handed it to him => *I handed him it.
The verb give allows Prep. Deletion:
I gave it to him => Prep. Del. => I have it him.
c) Reflexivization If we only consider strings with Subject and I.O. coreferential NPs,
Dative and Reflexive may apply in any order:
Mary bought some flowers for Mary. => Refl.
Mary bought some flowers for herself. => Dative
Mary bought herself some flowers.
Subcategorization of Dative Verbs >>described by Green (1974)
The criterion used is primarily semantic, although syntactic peculiarities are mentioned
in each case.
1) Classes
The verbs in these classes take a to I.O. that denotes the actual or potential Recipient
of a transfer.
a) the 'bring' class includes verbs denoting the direct and accompanied
physical transfer of an object from an Agent to a Recipient expressed by the I.O.: bring,
carry, hand, pass, pull, push.
b) the 'give' class includes verbs denoting the direct and unaccompanied
transfer of an object to a recipient expressed by a I.O.: advance, award, feed, give, lend,
loan, pay, rent, sell, serve.
66

c) the 'send' class includes verbs denoting an unaccompanied physical transfer

of an Agent to a Recipient: fling, float, forward, mail, push, relay, roll, ship, throw,
slide.
d) the 'communication' verb class is further subdivided into:
> the 'radio' class: radio, wire, cable, telephone.
> verbs denoting the verbal expression of a message: tell, quote, read, write.
e) the 'promise' class: assign, grant, guarantee, offer, owe, permit, promise.
'owe' 1 expresses (moral) indebtedness and never undergoes Dative:
I owe my success to my parent/ to good luck.
'owe' 2 - denotes a material debt and it undergoes Dative:
He owes me a great sum of money/ 5000 lei.
2). For-Classes. The verbs that take a for NP as I.O denote all sorts of actions
undertaken by the Agent for the benefit of the I.O. referent. The semantic role
corresponding to I.O. is the Beneficiary.
a). the 'make' class: boil, cook, draw, knit, make, paint.
b). the 'buy' class: verbs denoting activities involving selection: buy, choose, get, find,
gather, leave, pick out, save.
c). artistic performance verbs: verbs indicating an object performed upon, but they do
not undergo Dative: chant, dance, play, recite, sing.
She danced us a few bars of 'The Blue Danube'.
She played us the trombone.
She hummed us 'Let it be'
d). the 'earn' class: gain, earn, win
Selling books will earn Bob a lot of money.
The publication of his translation will earn him a world wide reputation.

67

Passive and Passivization

The Passive is a complex linguistic phenomenon, which manifests itself at several
levels of linguistics analysis:
a). the morphological level, by specialized Passive Voice markers attached to the verb:
the auxiliaries be and get and the -en affix for the main verb.
b). the syntactic level, by a change in the position and status of the active Subject and
Object NPs. Passivization thus appears as a syntactic process resulting in a disturbance
of the basic order of sentence constituents: it fronts the deep (active) Object NP,
concomitantly converting the deep (active) Subject NP into a Prepositional by Object,
which is placed in post-verbal position and becomes deletable under certain
circumstances.
c). the semantic level by a change in the relation between the underlying role-structure
of the sentence and its functional organization.
The agent role ceases to be 'central hero' of the sentence, its topic and, syntactically, its
Subject, while the patient (sufferer of the action and process) acquires precisely the
syntactic functions and becomes the protagonist of the sentence.
The Passive evinces some relevant aspects at the super sentence level, that of Discourse
or Text. By the changes it induces in the information structure of the sentence,
Passivization plays a special role in the thematic progress of the text. Besides, recourse
to passive rather than active sentences in a Text sequence frequently turns out to have
some peculiar rhetorical and stylistic effects.
The Traditional Approach
Traditional grammarians used to discuss the Passive as one of the manifestation of the
category of Voice (by 'Voice', traditionalists mean the linguistic expression of the
relation between the performer of the action and the action itself, or between this
performer <<agent>> and the recipient <<patient>> of the action). Syntactically, Voice
is centred on the relation between the Subject and the Object of the sentence.
68

Despite its important syntactic aspects, the Passive Voice was included into the
Morphology of Grammar, although the criteria and topics were not purely
morphological. One can find in Scholarly traditional Grammars the approach of the
following problems connected with the Passive:
=> the description of the change brought about by Passivization in semanticosyntactic structure of the sentence in terms of a turning of the 'logical Object' of
sentence into its 'grammatical Subject' also called 'inverted Object'.
The logical Subject becomes a prepositional adjunct of the predicate labelled as
'inverted' or 'converted' Subject. By 'logical', they mean the functioning as Subject of
the sentence of the Noun expressing the performer of the action.
The traditional approach is still valuable for the intuition of the process-like character
of Passivization, as well as for the discussion of a very rich corpus of passive contexts.

The Passive in Modern Linguistic Theory

In early GTG, the transition from active to passive sentences was an essential cue and
proof to the theory itself. Passivization was described as a transformation that moves
about the NP constituents in a sentence and inserts the Preposition by and the passive
markers on the active V (be -en), all this without altering the semantic reading of the
sentence.
The Agentive by Phrase
Passive sentences have two surface realizations that differ by the presence/ absence of
the agentive by Phrase. The deep structure of these sentences is described as including
an (un)specified by NP which must or may be left out under certain conditions. In GT
models Passivization possibly includes a deletion rule which derives agentless passive
sentences.
1. In the BBC version, Hamlet was played by Derek Jacob.
2. The room has been cleaned (by the maid).
3. All my bills are paid (by me).
In the first sentence the agentive by Object is obligatory; the focus is on the very author
of the action. The second sentence is focused on a resultative activity without
69

necessarily requiring the expossion of its author in surface structure. In the third
sentence, the presence of the agentive by Phrase is redundant, making the whole string
hardly acceptable.
Agentive Passives
The marker of agency in present-day English is the preposition by, which also surfaces
in nominalized phrases of the form: the delivery of the message by an unknown person.
Other agentive prepositions used to compete with by in older English, among which of,
through, with and in.
The preposition of was the ordinary agency marker, while through and by were used
with an instrumental meaning. In present-day English, we still find some survivals of
the use of the above Prepositions Object. They are mostly characteristic of highly
literary style.
'OF' is used infrequently (and only in the above mentioned style) with some classes of
stative experience verbs (to be admired/ loved/ hated/ honoured/ understood of smb; to
be seen/ observed of smb). It is used in current English after born, when it indicates the
source of origin:
There was a boy born of our marriage eight months after I left you.
'WITH' occurs with a type of instrumental meaning in passive sentences:
The Minister was met with opposition.
'IN' has a quasi - agentive meaning
We were caught in the rain.
The chair was covered in black leather.
'FROM' may occur as a close alternative to by, indicating the source or origin.
We listened to a speech by/ from the Prime Minister.
'TO' is used with the verb to know:
She is known to me.
Agentless Passives
Language uses resort to agentless sentences in the following main circumstances:
1.

In

case

the

identity

of

the

Agent

is

unknown

John was killed in the war (by an enemy/ in an ambuscade)

70

to

the

speaker:

2. In case the Agent is indefinite; it may be generic or specific:

Pets are rarely ill-treated. (by people who keep them)
The lost pet was eventually found. (by a certain person)
3. When the Agent is not relevant for the topic which is being discussed.
Has the doctor been sent for?
4. When the speaker feels no need to name the Agent because it is very well known (it
being implicitly or explicitly present in the discourse).
Eventually, the thieves were caught and severely punished.
5. In case the speaker does not wish to name the Agent.
A confidential plan has been recently entrusted to me.
=> when the passive is get + Past Participle
The little boy got hurt on his way school.

71

Sentence Coordination
Coordination is one of the most productive processes of forming complex structures
by putting together constituents of equal rank and joining them by coordinating con
junctions. Coordination results in compound constituents:
a). compound sentences (the constituents of the coordination are sentences);
b). compound phrase (the constituents of the coordination are phrases);
c). Bill saw Jane and greeted her. (VP coord.);
d). Grandpa is old and hard of hearing. (AP coord.);
e). We have linguistics classes on Monday morning and on Friday afternoon.
(Prep. P coord.)
GT grammars have introduced the term conjoining (Chomsky, 1957). Each member
of the coordination was called a conjunct.
The equal status and the independence of the conjunct sentences is reflected in the
fact that each conjunct is directly dominated by the node S, as different from
subordinate sentences which are dominated by a node different from S.

Coordinates, correlative coordinators and conjuncts

Coordinated nodes are either juxtaposed or linked by coordinating conjunctions.
Coordinative conjunctions constitute a restrictive class of formatives with syntactic
properties different from those of subordinating conjunctions or of conjuncts.
Conjunctions connect homogeneous parts of speech or clauses (coordinated,
subordinated etc). In contrast with prepositions, conjunctions have an object; in

72

contrast with adverbs, they do not determine or modify other parts of speech they
are just form words.
From the point of view of composition, conjunctions are:
a). Simple: for, when, I, since;
b). Composed: whereas;
c). Complex: as though/ if, as soon as (these are formed o two conjunctions or
combinations of conjunctions with adverbs).
d) Conjunctional phrases: seeing that, in order that
e) Correlative conjunctions, between which various parts of speech or parts of the
sentence are placed: eitheror, no soonerthan
Classification of Coordinative Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions link two parts of the sentence having the same syntactic
function or two homogenous clauses. They are:
a). Copulative: and, not onlybut also, as well as, no less than.
b). Disjunctive: eitheror, or, neithernor, otherwise, else, or else.
c). Adversative: but, and, whereas, while.
Quirk shows that there is a gradient from pure coordinators: and, or, but to pure
subordinator, if, although and conjuncts.
Properties relevant for the gradient:
a) A clause beginning with a coordinator or a conjunct (yet, or, nevertheless, etc) is
sequentially fixed in relation to the previous clause and hence cannot be moved to a
position in front of the clause. In contrast, subordinators allow an order change of the
two clauses:
They are living in England or they are spending a vacation there, they are
living there.
*Or they are spending a vacation there, they re living there.

73

I went there, for it was late.

*For it was late, I went there.
Mary wanted it, nevertheless George gave it away.
*Nevertheless George gave it away, Mary wanted it.

b) Coordinators cannot be preceded by other conjunctions, pure subordinators and

conjuncts can be preceded by coordinators.
He was unhappy about it, and yet he did what he was told.
*He was unhappy and but he did what he was told.
c) Coordinators allow typical reduction rules: Gapping (a rule that deletes an identical
verb in coordinate sentences) and Conjunction Reductions (a rule that deletes identical
subjects, copulas and partly identical predicates). In particular, all coordinators allow
conjunction Reduction of the Subject. This property is showed by a limited number o
conjuncts like yet, so.
I may see you tomorrow or may phone you later in the day.
They didnt like it, yet said nothing.
Max will buy flowers for his mother-in-law and Bill for his wife.
d) Only coordinates may link several subordinate clauses which are constituents of the
same rank. Subordinators link only a main and an embedded clause.
John might take them by car, Mary might go with them or might order a taxi
for them.

Correlative Conjunctions
The rule of conjunction spreading inserts a copy of the conjunction in front of each
conjunct except for the first. In fact, the place of the initial conjunct conjunction is not

74

always empty; it may be held by a distributive quantifier: neither, both, all, each, or
by a distributive adverb: alike, equally, not only, respectively, at once.
I neither love, nor hate him.
He addressed his observations not only to the guests, but to the domestics who
waited at table.
I was equally duped and betrayed.
Such combinations of quantifiers or adverbs and conjunctions have been traditionally
studied under the name of correlative conjunctions: neithernor, eitheror, both
and, not onlybut, alikeand, equallyand, at onceand.
Correlative conjunctions are best viewed as discontinuous elements. The choice of a
particular distributive Quant./ Adv. Depends on the choice of the conjunction:

Quant: either/ -or, neither/ -nor, both, all, each/ -and

Adv.: alike, at once, equally, respectively/ -and not (only/ merely) / -but
Some of the Quant. / Adv. May be moved to the end of the coordinate sentence by the
rule Quantifier Postponing. This rule applies only to and-based distributive
quantifiers/ adverbs:
He can both sing and dance.
He can sing and dance both.
The rule is optional for both, alike, but it is obligatory for all and each.
*Each John and Pete bought a copy.
John and Pete each bought a copy.
*All Pete, Tom and Bob have married pretty girls.
Pete, Tom and Bob all have married pretty girls.

75

Coordinators may also differ with respect to the number and type of conjuncts they
may link. But may not link more than two conjuncts.
This restriction does not apply to not onlybut.
*John will sing, but Bill will dance, but Peter will play the piano.
Not only Petebut Bill also came.

The correlative bothand cannot occur with sentences:

*Both John laughed and Mary fainted.
He is both intelligent and hardworking.
The combinations alland / eachand occur only with NPs.
A characteristic aspect of the syntax of coordination is the presence of what Quirk
calls conjuncts: they are a class of adverbs (or adverbials) which present a very low
degree of integration in clause structure and which merely have a connection function.
They are also called conjunctive adverb (ials).
From semantic point of view they may solve two functions:
They make more explicit the particular semantic-pragmatic relation between the
members of the coordination.
She is pretty but, however, not beautiful.
You may sleep here, or else go to a hotel.
They may serve as means of discourse coherence.
Conjuncts are especially frequent in the case of coordination by juxtaposition in the
case of and coordination we have conjuncts like: also, besides, too, either, moreover,
indeed, at the same time.
She is a good wife and also a good mother.
She is a good wife and a good mother too.

76

In the case of but coordination: rather, at least, in other words, otherwise.

His remarks did not vex her, or, at least, she showed no vexation.
We must make haste; otherwise we shall be too late.
Problems of argument with compound subjects
AND compound subjects occur with plural verbs as they designate sets of objects.
John, Martha and Bill (all) have won prizes.
The semantic and the syntactic components are interrelated.
American and Dutch beer are both much lighter than British.
In the case, a compound subject designates a unique referent, the verb takes singular
form:
My colleague and friend is to come.
Danish bacon and eggs makes a good solid English breakfast.
The singular verb occurs if the subject is generic and the predicate is stative:
Pickles and strawberries is a favorite of pregnant women.
*Pickles and strawberries is sitting on the table.
The verb agrees with the affirmative conjunct in case an affirmative and a negative
conjunct designate distinct referents:
Virtue, not rolling sums, matures the mind.
Rolling sums, not virtue, mature the mind.
Two and two make/ makes four.
Or, eitheror and not (only)but (also) compound subjects.
In these cases, the verb agrees with the conjunct which is closest to the verb:
Not john, but his two brothers are to blame.
Either John or his parents are coming.

77

In the case of neither, nor, prescriptive grammars recommend agreement as in the case
of eitheror. However, the verb is often found in the plural with neithernor.
Neither he nor his wife have arrived.

Expressions like as well as, as much as, rather than, more than, no less than, together
with are not coordinating conjunctions, but prepositional phrases or connective
adverbs and consequently, they do not influence agreement rules.
The Minister, as well as/ rather than/ as much as the Trade unions is
responsible for the present impasse.

78

Complementation
A sentence is said to be called Complex when it contains another sentence as one of
its constitutive parts. The constituent clause is called a subordinate clause, while the
containing clause is referred to as the main clause.
John believes [that it will rain soon]
John [who is tall] can play basketball [whenever he likes]
A subordinate clause may be an immediate constituent of the main clause or it may be
an immediate constituent of one of the constituents of the main clause. Embedded
(subordinate) clauses fall into several categories defined in terms of:
a) the type of connector which introduces them (e.g. a subordination conjunction:
although, if etc, a relative pronoun or adverb: who, whenever etc).
b) the structural configuration within which the embedded clause is introduced.
Complement clauses are embedded clauses which replace NPs taking over their
syntactic functions. Complement clauses are introduced by a limited set of
subordinating particles called complementizers: THAT, FOR-TO etc.
That he gave that heirloom to me was a shock to everybody. (That
complement)
For him to give that heirloom to me was a shock to everybody. (infinitive For
to complement).
When how unwillingly to gave that heirloom to me everybody remembers.
(indirect question complement).

79

Him/ Max giving that heirloom to me caused his wife a heart attack. (half
gerund complement or ACC ing complement).
His/ Maxs giving that heirloom to me caused his wife a heart attack. (full
gerund complement or Poss. ing complement.
His giving of a necklace to his wife was meant to patch up things. (verbal noun
or proper nominalization).
THAT Complement Clauses
Major syntactic properties of THAT Complements
Complement Clauses occur in all deep structure positions of NPs and they enter into
most of the functional relations of NPs: Subject, Direct Object, Prepositional Object,
Predicative, Attributive, Adverbial. THAT clauses pronominalize like NPs: pro-nouns
like it, that stand for NPs as well as clauses.
Columbus demonstrated that theorem.
What Columbus demonstrated is that theorem.
Columbus demonstrated that the world is not flat.
What Columbus demonstrated is that the world is not flat.

The Complementizer THAT

The formative that which introduces complement clauses is traditionally considered a
subordinating conjunction. In fact, that is a marker of subordination. Unlike other
subordinating conjunctions (though, if), that has no meaning, occasionally being
deleted. That is a purely syntactic word, showing embedding, hence its name
complementizer.
The lexical category of complementizers groups morphemes that have the same
syntactic functions: that, for-to, Poss- ing, Acc-ing, as.
Complemetizers are sensitive to functions that can occur in Object and Subject
Clauses: for-to can occur only in Subject clauses:
80

That John eats cabbage means that he likes it.

(That Cl/ Subj)

*For him to eat cabbage means that he will be sick.

For him to eat cabbage means nothing. (For-to Cl/ Subj)

Such interdependencies are easily expressed in terms of subcategorization frames for

a certain verb, which are an obligatory component of the lexic.
The generation of the complete range of that complements acquires the formulation of
several very general transformations:
Extraposition converts sentence A into sentence B
a) That the world is round is obvious.
b. It is obvious that the world is round.
This rule is an optional one, not lexically governed, but obligatory for some verbs:
seem, appear, happed, turn out.
*That the world is round seems/ appears/ happens
It seems/ appears/ happens that the world is round.
We have seen that a limited number of highly frequent verbs appear to require
obligatory extraposition. This is the case they dont allow sentential subjects:
*That he is smart seems.
*To him to be smart seems.
But these verbs allow another type of constructions based on Raising Subject to
Subject position, which is a transformation that applies after extraposition and it
insertion.
*That he is smart seems. =>> extraposition + it insertion =>>
It seems that he is smart. =>> Raising =>>
He seems to be smart.

81

Extraposition also appears to behave exceptionally with respect to subject and object
complements of so-called bisentential verbs like: prove, show, indicate, imply,
suggest, mean, entail etc.
These verbs accept sentential constituents as both subject and object:
[That his finger-prints were on my throat] shows/ suggests/ proves/ means/
implies [that he is unfond of me.]
*It shows [that he is unfond of me] [that his finger-prints were on my throat.]
Complex NP Shift is another very general rule of English.
Bill knows very well that he should do it tomorrow.
Complex NP Shift moves the D.O. only. This transformation does not apply to
subjects:
Mary destroyed the car which she had bought completely.
Mary destroyed completely the car which she had bought. (movement of
complex NP)
He talked to many of my best friends about their stupidity.
He talked about their stupidity to many of my best friends. (movement of a
complex PP)

The Distribution of That Clauses

That Clauses as Direct Objects The following transitive verbs are subcategorized for
clausal DOs introduced by that: admit, answer, arrange, assume, believe, claim,
consider, doubt, dream, estimate, fancy, find, feel, hear, guess, imagine, mean, mind,
know, prove, realize, remember, regret, see, suppose, respect, think, understand.
Passive can freely apply to D.O complement clauses, in most cases the clausal subject
is extraposed:
The police already know that Oliver is a spy.

82

That Oliver is a spy is already known by the police.

It is already known by the police that Oliver is a spy.

With some verbs like: think, believe, imagine, suppose, see, hear, know, remember,
understand, that deletion applies: I think/ suppose he will come in time.
There is a second subcategory of verbs which take, in addition to a clausal D.O, an
I.O or P.O.
Verbs that take a to I.O. They are mostly communicative verbs, which may undergo
Dative Movement: tell, read, write, suggest, remark, represent. Other verbs: permit,
allow, promise, swear, indicate.
She promised him that shed never lie to him again.
They telegraphed us that father had lied.
The Clausal D.O. may be passivized before Dative Movement:
They suggested a good solution to us.
A good solution was suggested to us by them.
In addition to the subclass of Dative Movement verbs, these are verbs that take a
clausal D.O and a personal P.O: ask, blame, beg, request, require:
He blamed the accident on me.
He blamed it on me that we had had an accident.
I begged of them that I may be allowed to go.
That clauses often represent underlying prepositional Objects, which undergo
Preposition Deletion: admit (of), ask (for), answer (for), marvel (at), see (to), worry
(about), wonder (at, about), swear (to), conceive (of), decide (on), insist (up/ on),
hope (for), learn (of, about).
Can you swear that the accused man was at your home al Friday night?

83

They voted that he should be admitted.

There is a class of transitive verbs that govern a D.O and a Prep. Object where the
Prep. Object alternates with the clause:

advise^NP^of,

instruct^NP^in,

warn^NP^of,

accuse

^NP^of,

inform^NP^of,

persuade^NP^of
He informed the manager that we are willing to work overtime.
I assume you sincerely that there is no such possibility.
Most frequently that clauses originate in a prepositional phrase governed by an
adjective: afraid (of), alarmed (at), annoyed (at), concerned (about), happy (about),
delighted (at), sorry (for), thankful (for), surprised (at):
Are you aware that you are sitting on my hat?
You should be thankful that you are alive.
That-Clauses as Subjects with several predicate subclasses: seem, appear, happen,
turn out, came about.
It appeared that I had run out of whiskey again.
It seemed she had simply forgotten about Georgie.
Some of these verbs may also take a [+personal] I.O.
He felt a new respect for Miss Carter, and it occurred to him for the first time
that he liked her.
A considerable number of adjectives take sentential subjects: likely, contain, true,
possible, doubtful, helpful, essential, evident.
It was also evident to me that I had not yet accepted that I lost her.
Nouns can also be used in this pattern: problem, thing, idea, fact, miracle, wonder,
illusion.

84

It is a wonder that you were not killed.

There is a large number of psychological transitive verbs that allow sentence subjects:
alarm, amaze, concern, please, satisfy, tempt, trouble.

I was pleased that they had recognized my work.

That nothing came out of it intrigues me.
That Clauses may also function as predicative in equative sentences when the
subject is a non-complex abstract NP or a clause: fact, idea, reason, claim, trouble etc.
The devil of it was that I needed both of them.
Indications were that Spain and Morocco had come close to an agreement.

That Clauses as Attributes

I have an uneasy feeling that she is forgotten.

85

On the Subjunctive Mood in That Clauses

Traditional grammars often mention the fact that there are complements taking
predicates which require or allow the use of the subjunctive in their complement
clauses. Among the verbs which require the use of the subjunctive (analytical with
should in BE and synthetic in AE) the following are frequently quoted: order,
demand, require, ask, insist, agree, arrange, recommend, propose, suggest.
He demands that new solutions should be sought.
There are two ways in analyzing the subjunctive in finite Complement clauses.
There is first, a purely syntactic approach to the matter. The Subjunctive is viewed in
terms of verbal government as a mark of subordination. The Subjunctive is not
supposed to have independent meaning or significance. The choice of the Subjunctive
strictly depends on certain matrix verbs marked in the lexicon for [+subjunctive] or
[+- subjunctive].
I wish that it be so.
I order that everybody stand up.
There is also a second semantic approach to the problem. This approach stands from
the assumption that the subjunctive mood has a specific meaning, distinct from the
meaning of the indicative. The distribution of the subjunctive is analyzable in terms of
its meaning in the sense that the subjunctive is selected by those matrix verbs that are
semantically compatible with subjunctive meaning.

86

The meaning of the subjunctive is best revealed by means of a comparison of the

subjunctive and the indicative i.e. the indicative is the mood of assertion, the
subjunctive is non-assertive.
It is raining (ind.).
An assertion is a claim to the truth of a preposition. A Subjunctive Clause does not
describe a state of affairs or actions that obtains in the real world, but one that obtains
in some possible world.

I claim/ say/ believe that Shakespeare is the author.

The indicative is factual, representative; the subjunctive is theoretical, potential,
and therefore uncertain.
An important property of indicative sentences is the deictic category of tense,
understood as orientation towards speech, i.e. real time. Subjunctive Clauses lack
deictic temporal orientation; they are not actualized in time. They form an intrinsic
part of the prescriptive discourse.
The Distribution of the Subjunctive
The first class of cases where the subjunctive is used in the complement clauses has to
do with the notion of imperative sentences. The matrix verbs mostly belong to the
class of executive verbs (i.e. give a decision in favour or against a certain course of
action): order, forbid, ask, insist etc. The subjunctive mood is required after exercitive
verbs of command: ask, beg, advise, recommend, suggest, demand, forbid, prohibit.

She did not demand that I should remain with her.

Carol suggests that Miss S. stay for supper.
The captain ordered that the crew should abandon the ship.
The Subjunctive mood is also required after exercitive verbs of permission: allow,
permit, authorize, interdict, cant bear/ stand, forbid etc.

87

I allow that John should drink a glass of whisky every evening.

Do you permit that I should smoke in here?
The committee allowed that the bridge should be restored.
The verbs (most of which are verbs of communication): arrange, agree, tell, say,
confess, declare, explain, inform, persuade, remark, suggest, warn, state etc., govern
complement clauses in the indicative or subjunctive and direct objects and indirect
objects. They require the subjunctive only when realization of complement clause is
controlled by the I.O or D.O. The I.O/ D.O is an agent and it is often, but not always,
a co-referent of the embedded clause subject.
Bill told Suzy that she should go to the dentists.
Mother convinced me that I should keep indoors another day.
If the D.O/ I.O do not control the complement clause, the indicative mood is used.
I insist that the concert should finish by 10. (=demand)
I insist that the concert has finished by 10. (=I claim that it is true that)
I convinced Mary that I had read the book.
Thus, when the subjunctive is used, the complex sentence qualifies as an indirect
command. When the indicative is used, the complex sentence qualifies as an assertion.
The longest group of verbs with which the subjunctive is consistently used is that of
factive and non-factive emotive predicates (factive predicates and those which
presuppose the truth of their complements). Emotive predicates fall in several
syntactic classes.
a) intransitive predicates (adjectives) which take subject clauses:
1. non-factive: good, bad, right, important, essential, urgent, advisable.
2. factive: add, tragic, crazy, amazing, surprising.
b) transitive predicates that govern subject clauses: amaze, alarm, bother, surprise.
c) transitive predicates that govern D.O. or Prep. Obj. clauses:

88

1. non-factive: intend, prefer, wish, hate.

2. factive: regret, resent
The Subjunctive is highly frequent with non-factive intransitive predicates (as above).
When both the Subjunctive and indicative are allowed, the opposition between
description of real action versus description of possible action is clearly brought out in
pairs like the following:
It is best that he went there alone
It is best that he should go there alone.
It is important that his book is being written.
It is important that his book should be written.
In accordance with these meanings, other main verbs may select other modal
auxiliaries in the subjunctive complement. Thus, possible, conceivable may require
may in the Subject Clause.
It is conceivable that he may win.
It is (high) time, wish require a subjunctive which is homonymous with the Past Tense
and Past Perfect.
I wish she were here with us/ had joined us.
Its high time you went to bed/ had gone to bed.

89

Infinitive Complements
Infinitive constructions represent a complex, diversified type of embedded sentences.
As with That complements, the NP position in the sentence is filled out by a sentence
constituent, i.e. an infinitive construction. The characteristic marker of an infinitive
construction is the complementizer to, with several variants: for-to, to.
It now remains for the scientist to analyze all evidence they have acquired.
Russians have always expected their novelists to produce the political
nonsense of their time.
The conversion of sentences into infinitive constructions entails important
modifications in the form of the complement. The most important change that the
sentence suffers is the loss of tense distinctions. Tense is an obligatory constituent of
independent sentences, loss of tense is a powerful indication of subordination and
nominalization of the sentence.
The infinitive complement is thus a non-finite clause. The auxiliary constituent
retains, however, all aspectual distinctions:
To have done so on consecutive nights was a triumph indeed.
They are known to be doing so by kind permission of the Chief Constable.
He had expected her to have been reading at the time.

The subject of the infinitive clause

90

All infinitive complements have underlying subjects. It may (subject) suffer

modifications such as:
1) The infinitive retains its own subject in surface structure. In this case the subject is
preceded by for and acquires accusative form. This is the traditionally called for-to
Infinitive Construction.
It was considered disgraceful for him to dine anywhere but in the hall.

2) The infinitive clause may lose its subject by means of Deletion Rules: the
complement subject may be co-referential with some NP called Equivalent NP
Deletion.
They may have forgotten to answer the invitation.
3) The complement subject may be semantically indefinite, underlying deletion under
indefiniteness (The rule of One Deletion).
To see is to believe.
4) The infinitive clause retains its subject, but the complement subject becomes a
member of the matrix clause where its functions as subject or object. This is the case
of Acc with Infinitive or Nominative with Infinitive construction.
I saw him cross the street. (Acc + Inf)
He seems to be tired. (Nom + Inf)

The Distribution of Infinitive Construction; Patterns based on for-to

complementation; Patterns based on to complementation; Patterns based on forto complementation.
The Infinitive Complement as Subject
a) An infinitive clause may be subject of intransitive verbs: remain, suffice, will do,
be.

91

It remains to chose a leader. (the subject clause is extraposed)

The subject may be retained or deleted under indefiniteness.
For me to interfere either way would be rude.
To restore and even to extend this practice would be a real advantage.
b) An infinitive clause may be subject of adjectives: possible, impossible, likely,
necessary, normal, essential, unpleasant etc.

It is impossible for there to be a war between your country and mine.

After all, it was no uncommon for an Earls daughter to marry a commoner.
c) An infinitive clause may be subject of Nouns: a pleasure, an advantage, a tragedy,
time etc.
It would be a good idea to do that.
d) Infinitive complement clauses may function as subject of several clauses of
transitive verbs: to bother, to distress, to embarrass.
For Fred to have hallucination bothers me.
It bothers me for Fred to have hallucinations.
Infinitive Clauses as Direct Object
a) Infinitive clauses may function as DO after verbs such as:
- aspectual verbs: begin, start, continue, cease. (He began to write his essay).
- verbs of responsibility, control or success of an action: learn, attempt,
manage, return. (Would she attempt to carry it further?)
- verbs of liking and disliking: desire, like, dislike, hate, prefer.(He preferred
to see his friend relaxed in a pub./ I would like to know him better.

92

- there is a group of mental state verbs and verbs of linguistic communication

that have an alternative That Complement Construction: remember, forget, regret,
ask, conclude, claim, suggest.
They had concluded not to say anything about it.
They had concluded that they would say nothing about it.

The Infinitive Construction as P.O

Verbs: apply for, consent to, persist in, insist on, plead for, pray for, bother about,
long for, fail in, care for, etc.
He consented for John to go.
He will be pleased for you to walk over his lands at any time.
Adjectives: able, anxious, afraid, eager, careful, conceived, proud, glad, sorry, fit,
inclined, angry, welcome, ready, willing, pleased, content, certain.
I would be sorry for John to fail the exam.
I was eager for them to succeed.
For-to Construction as Predicative
A solution would be for the shops to open at noon and close about 9 p.m.
To see is to believe.
For her to do it would be to lose her reputation.
His principal pastime is to drive into the country.
For-to Complement as Attributes
Infinitive complements may subcategorize simple nouns: right, idea, power, instinct
or nominalization: wish, desire, ability, capacity etc.
We didnt give up because we believed in the American dream and in our
power to make that dream came true.

93

I had no desire to revive old memories.

To Complementation
Infinitive constructions based on Raising transformations (i.e. Subject to Object
Raising and Subject to Subject Raising). These rules are involved in the production
of a class of patterns known in traditional grammars as The Accusative + Infinitive
Construction.
The Accusative + Infinitive Construction is the direct result of Subject to Object
Raising (this is the rule that moves the subject of an embedded clause into the main
clause where it becomes either the subject of the main clause, for intransitive verbs, or
the D.O of the main clause for transitive verbs).
She believes Bill to be honest.
The Nominative + Infinitive Construction is the direct result of Subject to Subject
Raising or the result of Passivizing the main clause after SOR:
She seems to be honest
She is believed to be honest.
These two Raising transformations may be followed by a transformation of TO BE
deletion. The following three constructions are obtained by TO BE deletion after
SOR.
The Accusative+ Present Participle construction results from a deletion of progressive
BE.
[She saw Bill] [to be running] =>> She saw Bill running.
The Accusative + Past Participle construction results from a deletion of passive BE.
[She had her tooth] [to be extracted] =>> She had her tooth extracted.
The Accusative+ (Derived) Object Complement construction results from the deletion
of the link verb BE.
[I consider him][to be a genius] =>> I consider him a genius.

94

Application of main clause passivization to these constructions or of SSR and TO BE

deletion derives the corresponding Nominative + V constructions:
Nominative + Present Participle
She was heard mentioning your name.
Nominative + Past Participle: He was found killed by a bomb.
Nominative + (Derived) Subject Complement: He was considered a genius. He seems
sad.

The Domain of Raising Constructions

The first class of SOR triggers includes verbs of attitude with the human subject and
the D.O in the deep structure: assure, believe, consider, think, suppose, remember,
find, imagine, fancy.
They suspect him to be the murderer.
I know him to be a fool.
Helen knows herself dismissed.
A second class of SOR triggers includes causative verbs: cause, get, have, make, let.
These verbs do not have alternative That constructions:
This almost caused Jane to faint with terror. (Acc + Inf)
Ill have you speaking fluent English. (Acc + Present Participle)
I must get my hair cut. (Acc + Past Participle)
A third class of raisers includes verbs of permission and command: allow, beg, ask,
command, order, dictate, bear, permit.
I allowed John to smoke in the room. (Acc + Inf)
I will not bear a lie told to another in my presence. (Acc + Past Participle)

95

Another class of raisers is that of verbs of liking and disliking: love, like, prefer,
wish, desire, intend.
I dont like women to smoke. (Acc + Inf)
Of course I would prefer you to enjoy yourself.
Mister X wished the tree cut down. (Acc + Past Participle)
The last important class of SOR triggers includes verbs of physical perception: see,
hear, overhear, watch, feel, find, notice.
We saw John cross the street. (Acc + Inf)
I watched her entering. (Acc + Present Participle)
Ive heard it said. (Acc + Past Participle)
I saw him led through the hall. (Acc + Past Participle)
Subject to Subject Raising: (these are cases when the raised subject becomes subject
of the matrix)
Active verbs and adjectives which accept Nominative + Inf. Constr.: seem, happen,
appear, turn out, likely, sure, certain.
He happens to know English.
Are they likely to have heard the announcement?
Some of these verbs may govern to be deletion and this occurs in the Nominative +
Subject Complement Pattern.
He seems tired. (Noun + Subject Complement)
He appeared ignorant.
Intransitive verbs that trigger SSR:
a) inchoative verbs: become, grow, remain, go, stay.
There came to be twenty families in the valley. ( Nominative + Inf)

96

b). Aspectual verbs: continue, begin, start, stop.

It was beginning to rain when he left.
There continued to be nobles in London.
John began to be annoyed by the noise.
c) The two verbal phrases: had better, had best, which are followed by a short
infinitive will also be included in the class of SS triggers.
Youd better leave now.
d). The verb be + adjective constructions show typical properties of S.S.R. triggers: to
be bound to, to be apt to, to be suggested to, to be going to: It is going to rain.

ING Complementation
In addition to that and for-to English processes another complementizer ing,
occurent in a wide variety of syntactic structures.
Traditional grammars acknowledge the existence of at least two homonymous ing
forms:
a) Gerunds, defined as forms that have both substantival and verbal features, both
aspect of the content being often apparent in the same context.
Their cruelly shooting the doves.
b) Present Participles which have verbal features exclusively and thus differ from
gerunds.
John is writing.
Although not knowing English, I enjoyed my trip to England.
I saw the running child.
I recognized the man coming to my house.

97

Gerunds were further subdivided into gerunds proper or verbal gerunds and verbal
nouns or nominal gerunds, the latter differing from the former in that they have only
nominal features.
Their cruel shooting of the doves.
Participles appear to be derived transformationally:
Although not knowing English, I enjoyed my trip to England.
[Although I did not know English, I]
I recognized the man coming to my house.
[The man who was coming to my house]

When it is the outcome of sentence transformation the participle has the distribution
of a noun modifier (attribute) or verb modifier (adverbial).
In I saw the running child, the participle functions as a verbal adjective. So the present
participles do not constitute a homogenous derivational class, because some
participles are basic, while others are derived constituents.
A more detailed syntactic analyses of verbal gerunds is bound to identify the gerundial
constructions: an older one, whose subject is a possessive form called Poss. Ing
complement: Who objected to their coming here? And the more recent construction
whose subject is an Accusative form, called Acc- Ing Complement: Who objected to
them coming here?

Comparison between gerunds (verbal gerunds) and verbal nouns (nominal gerunds)
The auxiliary, like infinitive, Acc-Ing and Poss-Ing complements maintain aspectual
distinctions, in contrast, nominal gerunds, have no auxiliary constituent at all (this
suggests that they are not sentences).
John resold the book before reading it. =>>

98

=>> Johns having resold the book before reading it. (verbal gerund)
=>>*Johns having resold of the book before reading it. (nominal gerund)
=>> Johns selling of the book before reading it. (nominal gerund)
=>> Johns resale of the book before reading it. (nominal gerund)
The subject of verbal gerunds suffers modifications, it takes the Acc or the Poss. form.
It all depends on him/ John coming in time.
In the case of gerund constructions, the possessive cannot be transformed into an ofphrase (this is possible only with verbal nouns).
John is approaching slowly => *The approaching slowly of John.
Johns slow coming => The slow coming of John.

Verbal nouns, unlike gerunds, cannot be modified by adverbs of manner but by

corresponding adjectives:
He drew the picture rapidly. =>>
=>> His/ him drawing the picture rapidly. (gerund)
His rapid drawing of the picture. (verbal noun)

Verbal gerunds accept sentence negation by not while verbal nouns and
nominalizations do not.
Her not preparing dinner is good for her health. (verbal gerund)
*Her not preparing of the dinner/ her not preparation of the dinner is good for
health. (verbal noun)
With nominalization, negation is always incorporated occurring either in the
determiner of the nominalized form or in some object of the nominalization:

99

She had no intention of seeing him.

Her knowledge of nothing good about him. [the fact that she did not know
anything good about him]
Gerunds retain clausal structure, while verbal nouns have full NP structures.
Gerund: His not having spoken to him explicitly.
Verbal noun: Her excellent knowledge of it.
All -ing complements and nominalizations, unlike all other complements, can be
preceded by prepositions.
I was surprised at your knowing the subject so well.
at your excellent knowledge of the subject.
*(at) that you know the subject.
*(at) to see that you know the subject.
Gerund clauses, like infinitive ones, do not exhibit surface tense but they exhibit
aspectual contrasts:
I remember hearing her at the Opera years ago.
He went crazy through having lost his fortune years ago.
The rule which produces auxiliary changes turning a finite clause into a non-finite
clause is Tense Replacement Rule (the indicative past ed is converted into have
en.
You must excuse my not having announced you earlier.
Gerunds lack progressive aspect: His running./ *His seeing running.

The subject of gerund clauses

Frequently, the gerund clause retains its own subject, different from that of the main
clause, marked by an Accusative or by a Possessive:

100

I must object to this witness being allowed to enter the box. Acc
He insisted on his sisters accepting the invitation. Acc
I feel rather afraid of his doing to much again. Poss.
I am not surprised at your being glad to get rid of such a habit. Poss.
The subject is co-referential with some NP in the matrix and is deleted by Equi. The
controller may have any function:
Subject: I am glad of having met you.
D.O.: I congratulate you for assembling here.
I.O. / P.O.: I hope you are not angry with me for coming

The Distribution of Gerund Complements

Poss- ing and Acc-ing complements as Direct Objects
There is a considerable number of verbs that take ing complements as D.O. Many
of them accept infinitival D.O.
Verbs which accept gerund D.O. but with which an infinitive complement is
impossible or infrequent:
a) avoid, dislike, detest, enjoy, finish, give up, keep, miss, put off, cant resist, cant
help, cant stand, consider, excuse, condemn, justify; they are typically followed by
gerunds.
b) regret, perceive, deplore, care (about), mind, admit, explain, announce, mean,
imply, doubt, deny; they have an alternative that complement construction.
For a few of these verbs the matrix and complement clause must have identical
subject for the sentence to be well-formed: resist, finish, leave off, resume, keep( on).
*I left off his writing the essay.
*I resumed his writing the essay.

101

Most verbs accept different subjects in the matrix and complement clause, and then
the subject assumes Possessive and Accusative form:
Poss. ing: Youll excuse my asking again.
I dont mind his coming whenever he likes.
Acc ing: I cannot help the dreams coming.
The parents did not mind the news becoming public.
Do you mind the windows being open?
Verbs like deny, postpone, risk, allow only a Poss. ing complement:
I couldnt deny *him having made a reasonable excuse.
I couldnt deny his having made a reasonable excuse.
Verbs followed either by ing or infinitive complements.
a) There is a first class of verbs showing little or no meaning difference between the
infinitive and the gerund complement: afford, attempt, decline, fear, neglect, fail,
plan, intend
*It is needless to attempt describing the particular character of young people.
I dont attempt to strike out anything now.
One should also include in this class the few aspectual verbs that govern both
infinitives and gerunds: begin, start, commence, continue, cease; still, each of the
complements may convey specific shades meaning: In general the to + V
constructions has future orientated and generic reading (repetition of the event).
V ing constructions have present or past readings
That never ceased to amaze me.
*amazing me.
He started reading an article, reprinted from the Times.

102

b) The same difference is relevant in case of verbs of liking and disliking: like, dislike,
love, adore, detest, prefer:
to V => a definite single future event: I love to hear you sing.
V ing => conveys a generic sentence or activity, habit: I love playing the
piano.
c) There is a large class of verbs which must take an infinitive when there is an object
in the matrix. If there is no personal object in the sentence, then the verbs take ing
complements: allow, permit, admire, suggest, propose, suffer, forbid, urge.
I allow Tom to smoke.
I allowed smoking in the room.
I suggested to them to bring the meeting to an end.
I suggested bringing the meeting to an end.

d) The verbs remember, recollect, recall, report, observe, perceive, notice are nonfactive in the Acc + inf. Constructions, but have a factive interpretation when used
with gerund complements:
They reported the enemy to have suffered a decisive defeat. (Acc + Inf)
They reported the enemys having suffered a decision defeat (gerund).
I remembered him to be bald so I was surprised to see him with long hair.
I remembered his being bald so I bought a wig and disguised him.
The infinitive is understood as simultaneous or future with respect to the main clause:
I didnt remember to post the letter so I still have it with me.
In contrast, the gerund factualizes the event which may be understood as past even if
it is not marked so.
They resent his being away.

103

They resented his having been away.

e) The verb try + Ving implies that the complement clause action took place. Try+ to
Inf. suggests a difficult or unsuccessful attempt.
He tried speaking French but he wasnt understood.
He tried to speak French but couldnt.
f) The verb stop allows an ing as D.O., but takes an infinitive only as adverbial of
purpose clause.
He stopped smoking cigars at table.
He stopped to smoke a cigar.

Possessive ing and Acc ing Complements as Subjects

Poss. ing and Acc ing Complements seem to be less frequent as Subjects at least in
the spoken language.
a) With the ing Complements subject, poss ing is the more normal construction.
Acc ing Subject is preferred in extraposed position.
It was bad enough Richards going up to the Cambridge in the autumn.
b) Poss ing and Acc ing complements appear as Subjects of adjective or nouns:
necessary, likely, add, tragic, a pleasure, an event, a good/ bad thing.
Poss. ing: A strangers sharing this trip was bad enough.
Acc ing: She flirting with Christopher was one good thing.
c) Subjectless gerunds:
Swimming in the sea is great.

104

Travelling to the moon was once unconceivable.

d) Poss. ing Complements also occur as Subject of intransitive verbs or adjectives
that also govern an I.O.: hard, easy, surprising, boring; intransitive verbs: matter,
suffice, will do, occur.
Giving your son a fatherly advice is easy for you.
e) Poss. ing Complements are subject of a large group of causative psychological
verbs: surprise, alarm; intransitive verbs: suffice, will do; transitive verbs: mean,
imply, cause, make, give etc.
Howards coming disturbed the habit of our household.
Finding you here surprised me.
f) Subject gerunds may appear in frozen or idiomatic constructions: its no use, its
worth while, its no harm.
It was of no use my saying anything to you.
It was delightful being with you.
Its so awful not being able to communicate.
Its no good hiding the truth.
Poss. ing and Acc ing Complements as Objects of Preposition
The prepositional context is the most certain characteristic environment for gerund
complements, being the only surface context which they do not share with infinitives
or finite complements. Occurrence in the context of the preposition indicates a high
degree of nouniness.
We should present the more frequent predicates that govern prepositional gerunds
(verbs, verbal idioms, adjectives, nouns) and which are strictly subcategorized for the
respective preposition:
ABOUT: verbs: care, hesitate, talk, see, trouble oneself;
adj.: careful, anxious, positive, glad, sorry, wrong, happy.

105

Mary is annoyed about Jims staying out so late.

He was careful about ordering drinks.
They often talked about odd subjects.
AGAINST: verbs: rule, exclaim, fight, guard, vote, murmur;
adj.: be dead against
They voted against killing the prisoners.
AT: verbs: delight in/ at, laugh, revolt at
adj.: agitated, alarmed, angry, annoyed, astonished, delighted.
We were delighted at her inherit a fortune.
FOR: verbs: answer, vote, care, prepare, stand.
adj.: prepared, ready, responsible, qualified, fit.
Ill answer for him being there in time.
His whole substance was fit only for burning.
I cant stand for being treated like this.
FROM: verbs: abstain, arise, come, emerge, result, escape, refrain;
adj.: different, safe, secure etc.
He deliberately refrained from examining it in detail.
He wishes to secure himself from falling off.
IN: verbs: believe, consist, join, result, fail, end, persist, succeed;
adj.: engaged, deep, justified, successful, interested, wrong, right.
He was right in thinking that she would be forgiven.
I still believe in your coming back.
OF: verbs: admit, come (result), complain, take, think.

106

adj.: aware, ashamed, afraid, guilty, hopeful, glad, sure.

She was constantly complaining of the cold.
I was afraid of going any farther.
ON: verbs: venture, decide, determine, depend, insist, theorize;
adj.: bent, intent, set, interest.
Paul insisted on spending the holiday with her.
He is almost exclusively intent on bringing out the weakness and insatisfaction
of their relationship.
TO: verbs: admit, amount, consent, apply, testify, confess, object, look forward, to be
used to, to be on the way to.
adj.: confined, essential, opposed, subject, superior, accustomed.
He sometimes objected to my wearing pretty dresses.
Michael confined himself to pointing out that her being married to him was a
very important fact.
WITH: verbs: put up, content/ busy/ occupy oneself with.
adj.: content, pleased, satisfied etc.
She was forced to put up with sleeping in the kitchen.
She busied herself with tidying up her dress.
The following constructions with the verbs fall, come, go (out), to run (out), get, to be
out/ off, may be followed by non-prepositional gerunds:
Id rather go sleeping/ shopping/ swimming with you.
She had fallen thinking of the event.
After a while she fell crying.

107

There are also adjectives that may be attended by a non-prepositional gerund: busy,
near, worth.
She was too busy helping people in distress.
She is not worth trying on.
Gerunds Complements may function as Predicates:
His main extravagance is smoking cigars.
Seeing is believing.
Poss. ing and Acc ing complements may function as Attributes:
She was a little cool about the idea of being taken as his secretary.
There was no point in being there.
She really resented the notion of entertaining guests.

Participial constructions
She stood gazing at the brightly lit shops windows. [Predicative]
She looked at the children playing in the garden. [Attributive]
She heard smb. knocking at the door. [Acc + Part.]
Arriving at the station, he started looking at his friend. [Partic. Predicative]
Having read the book, he was able to comment on it. [Perf. Partic. Adverbial
of Cause]
I saw the running child. [Verbal adjective Attribute]
All sleeping children are beautiful [Verbal adj. Attribute]
The things not wanted were given away. [Past Participle Predicative]
There are portraits of wanted persons. [Verbal adj. Attribute]
There is the Lost Property Office. [Verbal adj. Attribute]

108

I wanted it done immediately. [Acc + Participle Complex D.O.]

It is important to keep distinct gerund complements (introduced by Poss. / Acc ing)
and participles (introduced by comp. ing); they have different surface syntactic
properties. The subject of the gerund is a genitive or an accusative form. The subject
of the participle is a Nominative form. The Gerund is a complement with a high
degree of nouniness; it may be preceded by any ordinary NP taking prepositions.
Occurrence in the context of a preposition is an essential feature of the gerund.
The participle can only be preceded by limited group of conjunctions (i.e. conjunctive
prepositions: as, although, if). The gerund has the full distribution of an NP, appearing
in any NP function. The gerund may be a term. Consequently it subcategorizes verbs,
nouns and adjectives.
The participle has the distribution of an adverbial and of an attribute, therefore it is
never a term.

The Syntax of participial constructions

The full (Subject Predicate) participial clause can only function as a sentence
modifier. This is the so-called absolute participial construction.
This being unimportant, we passed on to another item on the agenda.
The children having gone to bed, I was now able to read.
The Accusative with the Participle. This construction is used:
a) after verbs of perception: to see, hear, feel, smell, notice, perceive, watch.
I saw him locking the door.
She smells something burning.
The Nominative with the Participle it is used with the verbs of perception in the
passive:
The robber was seen leaving the bank.

109

The Absolute Nominative In this construction the Present Participle is used

independently from the predicate of sentence and its subject is not the same as the
subject of the sentence:
Weather permitting, we shall go for a walk.
The teacher not being in the classroom, we could discuss that matter.
The Absolute Participle the present participle that occurs in this construction has no
subject.
Judging by appearances, he was right.
Generally speaking, he has made an important contribution to this project.

Relative Clauses
Relative clauses constitute a class of embedded clauses which are members of NPs
and where subordination crucially depends on the fact that matrix and the subordinate
clause share a co-referential NP.
There is a great variety of Relation Clauses which can be classified in terms of their
form and/ or their meaning.
1) We may classify Relative Clauses according to two main criteria: whether or not
the antecedent of the RC is present in the surface structure and from this point of view
we can distinguish:
a) RCs with expressed antecedents (dependent RCs)
Uneasy lays the head that wears the crown.
Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire grenadier.
b) RCs without expressed antecedent, also called free RCs.

110

Whoever touches pitch shall be defiled.

This was a formal criterion.
2) Within the class of dependent RCs, on the basis of a semantic criterion, we can
distinguish between:
a) Restrictive Relative Clauses (or Defining RCs), i.e. clauses which delimit or
identify the antecedent.
Any boy that is lazy must be punished.
b) Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses (or Appositive RCs), they merely add
supplementary information about an already identified antecedent.
My brother, who lives in Bucharest, is a teacher, too.

Restrictive Relative Clauses

Ever since 1961, logicians have claimed that Relative Clauses are means of
expressing compound properties; thus the expression man express the property of
being man and it designates the set of individuals who are men; the expression man
who runs express the compound property of being man and running and it designates
a subset of the set of men: the group of individuals who are men and can run.
Complex nominals containing RRCls like man who runs, students who are lazy etc.
are means of delimiting a set of individuals, by first choosing a larger set (called the
domain: man, student) and then restricting it to just those members that have a second
property expressed in the restricting sentence: man who runs.
It has been noticed that RRCls do not appear with proper names, because proper
names designate unique reference and there is no further way of restricting such sets.
Mary whom he met yesterday is a teacher.
Such a context will be interpreted as Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses which add
information about an already identified referent.

111

For the same reason personal pronouns of the first and second or even of the third
person do not take RRCls. The third person pronouns are usually replaced by the one
who, those who; personal pronouns, which are not used as determiners, are replaced
by forms which can function as determiners in the surface structure: many people
=>> many who.
RRCls are not sensitive to the determiner of the antecedent (the word to which the
relative clause relates, which may be [+ -definite]), but the reverse takes place. The
determiner of the antecedent is sensitive to RRCls in that it becomes [+Definite] (an
instance of the cataphoric use of the definite article).
Milk is good.
*The milk is good.
The milk which you bought yesterday was good.
RRCls are introduced by relative pronouns: which, who, that, and by relative adverbs:
where, when etc.
RRCs are not separated from the antecedent by commas in writing, nor by a pause in
speech.
Not all wh-words can function as relative pronouns in RRCls. In particular, one
cannot use what, which is an indefinite pronoun; the pronoun which has to be used
instead.
The book *what you have read.
The book which you have read.
What is an indefinite pronoun (which can never become definite), while which is
inherently definite.
Other interrogative formatives: who, where, when etc. are definite, but can become
definite in certain contexts: Who else was there? [-Def]
Who do you want to see? [+Def]

112

What is [-Def]; which is [+Def], who, where etc. are [+- Def]. In order to account for
the use of which instead of what we assume that before the relative pronoun is
lexically specified, there applies a transformation that assigns the syntactic feature
[+Def] to the determiner of the constituent sentence.
This is Constituent Definitization Transformation and it reflects the anaphoric relation
binding the antecedent and the relative pronoun, a relation which is guaranteed by the
co-reference condition.
If the antecedent determiner appears without a noun, functioning as a pronoun, the
antecedent noun can be deleted, either because it is a pro-form or because it is
identical with some other proceeding noun in the discourse. The following
determiners allow Noun Deletion: many, much, few, little, some, others, all, any.
Thats all I got. There are many who believe it.
When, while, where, why function as relative adverbs. Their antecedents are nouns
which name places, time etc. In the relative clause, where, when, why pronominalize
prepositional phrases with adverbial function:

This is the place at which he works. (where = at which)

This is the place where he works.
I dont know the time when he arrived. (when = at which)
I dont know the time at which he arrived.
What is the reason for which he came? (why = for which)
What is the reason why he came?
Yet, relative clauses are also frequently introduced by that. The relative that can be
used with any type of antecedent, it is invariable and never preceded by prepositions.
That can have almost any function in the sentence:
Subject: A man that loves Mozart will never commit a crime.
D.O: Much else that he had done failed to please his young critic.
113

P.O: There was everything that you could wish for.

Predicative: At first, blind food that I was, I welcomed the flattery.
That is found as an adverbial, with the preposition at the end, or with the preposition
deleted.
Adverbial: This is the shop that I bought it from.
Every additional time that we read the book we find new meanings and
beauties in it.
There are some syntactic environments where that is used in preference to who,
which.
a) That is the usual relative when the antecedent is a conjoined NP denoting a person
and a thing.
The men and manners that he describes will be unfamiliar to most of his
readers.
b) That is especially frequent after the following categories of antecedents:
superlatives, antecedents determined by all, every, any, not any, none, much, little.
Newton was one of the greatest men that ever lived.
Ask John or any other boy that was there.
I have nothing that would fit you.
There are also other complementizers which are less frequently used to introduce
RRCls: as, but.
Ill get you such things as you may want during my absence.
There is no one but news of their achievements.
As has sometimes been considered a pronoun, but it was often ignored as a relative
connector or analyzed as a conjunction.
Regarding the use of as (as a relative connector) it is important to notice that RRCls
introduced by as are infrequent and stylistically restricted.

114

It is often said that in English one can delete the relative pronoun which is not a
subject, which is not preceded by a preposition:
The man [that] Henry spoke to is a thief.

Free Relative Clauses

Free relative clauses are a class of RCls, which are similar to RRCls in their
underlying structure, but whose surface structure is different because they lack their
antecedent.
Whoever swims in sin shall swim in sorrow.
Home is where your friends and family are.

Most English grammars that have dealt with such clauses have placed them in the
category of relative clauses (a notable exception is Curme who treats them under
Subject Clauses or Object Clauses, without assigning them any categorial status).
In Free Relative Clauses, English uses, in addition to simple relative pronouns and
adverbs, a class of compound relative pronouns and adverbs:
Simple forms: who, what, where, when.
In present day English, who meaning the one who or anyone who is no longer current,
being replaced by whoever.
Whoever/ who she spoke to misunderstood her.
Compound ever-forms: whoever, whatever, whichever, wherever, whenever, however:
Go wherever you like.
Whoever is seldom inflected: Ask whoever you meet.

115

The genitive whosever is highly infrequent: Whosever it is, I mean to have it.
Whoevers is found in colloquial style.
Compound so-ever forms are less frequent and belong to rhetorical language.
Although these classes lack antecedents in the surface structure, there are compelling
syntactic and semantic arguments for positing a dummy antecedent in their underlying
structure.
The first syntactic argument is number agreement of the verb in the main clause:
That he won and that you lost is/ *are truly amazing.
What would be virtues in a Christian are vices in a pagan.
What may be and must be is.
The second syntactic argument is the pronominalization phenomenon. In contrast with
that complement clauses, which are pronominalized by typical pro-sentence forms (it,
so), FRCls are pronominalized by ordinary personal or demonstrative pronouns and
there is gender and number agreement with the antecedent.
It cant have been true that Tom had been killed and you shouldnt have
believed it.
Whoever told you that Tom had been killed was lying and you shouldnt have
believed him.
We conclude that FRCls have underlying antecedents, and thus belong to the class of
RCls. The syntax of FRCls is in all respects similar to the syntax of RRCls, but there
is an additional transformation which deletes the antecedent. For this transformation
we should take into consideration the following things:

The grammar should guarantee that only appropriate wh-forms are used in
FRCls and RRCls.

The sequence Det + antecedent eliminated by this transformation should

be recoverable.

116

The set of relative pronouns used in FRCls only partly overlaps the set of
forms used in RRCls. In FRCls: what, who.

Which is an inherently [+Def] pronoun and it is used in FRCls, but not in RRCls. So
wh-words used in FRCls are inherently indefinite, and cannot become definite as a
consequence of an anaphoric relation with the antecedent, because the latter is
deleted.
The choice of the relative pronoun in FRCls is partly depended on the determiner of
the implicit antecedent. The simple forms what, who are associated with underlying
structures containing the definite article in any of its uses: referential, attributive,
generic, and an underlying universal quantifier any used attributively.
Show me what you are holding in your hand. (the thing)
Speak about what book you liked best. (the book attributive)
Who steals my purse steals trash. (anyone who generic use)
Dear poet, dont you know that I say whatever you say. (anything)

The last remark concerns the identical nominal of the RC. This nominal is either a
noun with full lexical content (doll, girl etc) or a noun of very general meaning
belonging to the limited class of Pro-forms: thing, person, nouns which can be
deleted. Nouns of full lexical meaning are retained in the SS.
I said what words of comfort I could.
Pro-form nouns are deletable in virtue of their very general meaning:
What he was reading was interesting. (the stuff)
Do what you like.
The derivation shows that in the SS the clause assumes the function of the deleted
antecedent, so the FRC is a subject clause. Within the RC, the relative constituent may
perform any functions.
Subject: Who steals my purse steals trash.
117

Whoever calls shall be admitted.

D.O: He told the story to whoever he met.
I.O: Never mind, Ill give it back to John or Henry, or whoever it belongs to.
PO: I will teach whomever I speak with to speak civilly to me.
Attribute: Return it to whosesoever address is on the envelope.
Predicative: I proposed to whoever it was that we leave immediately.
FRCls are more informative than Restrictive Relative Clauses. FRCls are less frequent
than RRCls; they are convenient substitutes of RRCls, particularly when the
antecedent is a pro-form of the type thing, person, stuff.
Show me the thing which you bought.
Show me what you bought.

Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses

Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses or Appositive RCls add supplementary information
about an already identified antecedent.
My brother, who lives in Bucharest, is a teacher too.
The difference between restrictive and non-restrictive modification is semantic in
nature. Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses give additional information which is not
essential for identifying the head.
There is the driver who overtook us five minutes ago.
The driver, who was very young, had only just got his license.
Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses are normally separated from the antecedent by a
comma in written materials or by a pause in speech.
Only Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses can modify certain categories like proper
names, first and second person personal pronouns.

118

Julie, who is a beautiful girl, married yesterday.

Certain determiners of the antecedent prevent the occurrence of Non-Restrictive
Relative Clauses: all, any, every, each, no, some.
Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses cannot be introduced by that
*Cats that scratch are nasty.
It follows that Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses must be viewed as NP modifiers, not
as nominal modifiers. In Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses which occasionally appears
as a determiner in S.S., the identical noun is not deleted.
The Victoria line, which was opened in 1969, was Londons first complete new
tube for 60 years. (which = subject)
The Victoria line, which the Queen opened in 1969, was Londons first
complete new tube for 60 years. (which = object)

In a NRRC, it is almost a general rule for the preposition to come before the relative
pronoun.
The new hospital, in which the Queen has taken a great personal interest, will
be officially opened in March.
The headmaster, with whom the parents had discussed their sons feature,
advised the boy to take up engineering.
One important exception is the verb + preposition combinations:
I can assume you that David is a man you can absolutely depend on.

Non Finite Relative Clauses

English also disposes of Non-Finite RCls, infinitival and participial clauses.
Some tools with which to fix the table will soon arrive.

119

I found an usher from whom to buy tickets.

The infinitival relatives can be deleted:
I have a toy for you to play with.
John bought a book for Mary to read.
Participial relatives are subjectless in the S.S.
Any man owning a factory has a great deal of responsibility.

Adverbial Clauses
Adverbial Clauses fall into several semantic classes.
Adverbial Clauses of Time: I must write my exercise before going to bed. I was there
when he came. Whenever I feel any doubt, I inquire.
Adverbial Clauses of Place: They went wherever they could find work. He would live
with grandmother anywhere she liked.
Adverbial Clauses of Condition
Real Conditional Clauses (Indicative Conditional Clauses)
He must be lying if he told you that.
Provided that no objection is raised we shall hold the meeting here.
Unreal Conditional Clauses (Subjunctive Conditional Clauses)

120

If he came, Id see him.

If shed been awake, she would have heard the noise.
Suppose you were in his place, would you do it?
Adverbial Clauses of Reason or Cause: I did it because they asked me to do it. Since
we have no money we cant buy it.
Adverbial Clauses of Concession: Even though I were to die, I wont tell you my
secret. She went there in spite of the fact that I had warmed her.
Universal-Conditional Concessive Clauses (they indicate a free choice among any
number of conditions).
He is a scoundrel, whoever he may be.
She looks pretty, whatever she wears.
Alternative Conditional Concessive Clauses
I shall go there rain or shine.
Adverbial Clauses of Purpose: He put it here on purpose for you to read it. We dared
not move for fear (that) the enemy should overbear us.
Adverbial Clauses of Degree
Comparative Clauses of Degree
Its not half as boring I expected.
He is bigger than he is strong.
Result Clauses of Degree
He is speaking so loud that I can hear him even from here.
He has lived such a life that he cannot expected any sympathy now.
Clauses of preference
Rather than go by air, Id take the slowest train.

121

Sooner than go by air, Id take the slowest train.

Adverbial Clauses of Manner (real and unreal) comparison
Please do exactly as I have instructed.
He felt as if the ground were slipping beneath his feet.
Adverbial Clauses of Restriction: This pie is delicious to eat. In those days letters
were slow of travelling.
Adverbial Clauses of Exception
The cases are quite parallel, except for the fact that Anton is a younger man
than Bob.

Bibliography:
Chomsky, N., Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1965
Cornilescu, A., Concepts of Modern Grammar, Bucharest University Press,
Bucharest, 1996
Cornilescu, A., English Syntax, Vol 2, TUB, 1984
Cornilescu, A., Iclezan Dimitriu, I., Accuracy and Fluency, Institutul European, Iasi,
1996
Cornilescu, A., The Transformational Syntax of English. The Complex Sentence,
Bucuresti: TUB, 1976
Crainiceanu, I., Elements of English Morphology, Editura Fundatiei Romania de
Maine, Bucuresti, 2007
Curme, G., Syntax, New York: Academic Press, 1976
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., Svartvik, J. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. London: Longman, 1972

122

Serban, D, Hatagan, R and Moisescu, D., English Syntax Workbook, Editura Fundatiei
Romania de Maine Bucuresti, 2004
Serban, D. English Syntax, Bucuresti: TUB, 1982
Serban, D., The Syntax of English Predications, Editura Fundatiei Romania de Maine,
Bucuresti, 2006

123