Grammar I/ II Graciela Palacio
LV/UTN/JVG 2012
LESSON 44
CONTROL PREDICATES
We speak of control predicates because there are control verbs and control adjectives. Let
us discuss control verbs first.
CONTROL VERBS (PERSUADE/ TRY)
Control verbs can be:
a. two-place verbs, e.g. Ii tried [CP Ø PROi to open the door] or
b. three-place verbs, e.g. I persuaded Johni [CP Ø PROi to buy a TV].
TWO-PLACE CONTROL VERBS
The typical two–place control verb is try. (cf. see try-type verbs in the Grammar I notes). It
is a subject control verb. Consider the sentence given above:
Ii tried [CP Ø PROi to open the door].
The two arguments of try are I and the complementiser phrase Ø PRO to open the door. Try
assigns a theta role to each, its theta grid being < agent, theme/event>. Try has only one
complement. Its subcategorization frame would be:
try: v [ CP]
The CP is a non-finite, subordinate clause with a PRO subject.
The PRO subject is controlled by the subject of the main clause.
What do we mean by control? Control means that big PRO gets most of its features from the
subject of the sentence. If the features of I are first person, singular, common gender,
nominative case, the features of big PRO will be first person, singular, common gender. The
only feature that they do not share is case. Big PRO is said to have null case. If it had
nominative case, it would be pronounced I, but it is not pronounced that way. In fact, it is
silent.
Big PRO is not the result of movement. It is generated in the position of subject of the non-
finite verb.
The controller and PRO may or may not have the same theta role. This is due to the fact that
the theta role that PRO gets comes from the predicator of the non-finite clause. In the
sentence we were analysing I has the theta role of agent assigned by try, and PRO also has
the theta role of agent but in this case, assigned by open. In the following sentence:
Tom wants [CP Ø PRO to buy a new car].
The theta roles do not coincide because Tom gets the theta role of experiencer from want and
big PRO gets the theta role of agent from buy.
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If a verb is a control verb, then it is not possible for the non-finite clause to have an explicit
subject. The following sentences are not produced by native speakers:
*Peter tried Mary to open the door/ *Peter tried for Mary to open the door).
Other examples of two-place control verbs are: decide, plan, promise, manage, hope, like,
prefer when they are followed by a non-finite/infinitival clause. For example:
They decided [CP Ø PRO to buy a TV].
They managed [CP Ø PRO to pass the exam].
I want [CP Ø PRO to go to the cinema].1
I like [CP Ø PRO to read comics].
I would like [CP Ø PRO to buy a new camera].
I would prefer [CP Ø PRO to have a coffee].
THREE-PLACE CONTROL VERBS
The typical three-place control verb is persuade (cf. see persuade-type verbs in the
Grammar I notes). It is an object-control verb. Consider the following example:
I persuaded Johni [CP Ø PROi to buy a TV].
Theta-grid: Type of proposition: dynamic.
Syntactic Analysis:
Number of complements: two
Category of the complements when persuade is a control verb: DP, CP.
The subcategorization frame would be:
persuade: v [ ----- DP CP].
persuade has three arguments (I, John, Ø PRO to buy a TV) and two complements. It assigns
theta role to each, its theta grid being < agent, goal, theme/event>.
Its first complement is a DP, its second complement is a non-finite/infinitival, subordinate
clause, a CP. It is a nominal clause because it functions as complement. In this subordinate
clause, the verb buy has a silent subject (PRO), whose reference is controlled by the first
complement him. This is called object control. Him is a separate constituent, it is not the
subject of the verb buy. What evidence is there for this?
First, persuade needs an animate complement to which it assigns the theta role of goal or
affected. You cannot persuade a desk to do something. Secondly, if you replace the non-finite
clause by a finite clause, the first complement, him, is still retained and the subordinate clause
1
Notice that want is not a control verb in I want [CP Ø you to go to the cinema] because the subject of the non-
finite clause in overt or explicit.
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appears with its own subject he. Notice the parallelism between the finite and the non-finite
clause:
I persuaded him [CP that he should buy a TV].
I persuaded him [CP Ø PRO to buy a TV].
Other examples of three-place control verbs are ask (meaning pedir), tell, order, remind,
urge, oblige, advise.
She asked me [CP Ø PRO to open the door].
She advised me [CP Ø PRO to see a doctor].
Remind me [CP Ø PRO to phone Alan before I go out].
IMPORTANT:
What do two-place and three place control verbs have in common?
They both have an external argument, which functions as the subject of the sentence,
and they assign a theta role to it. We will see that raising verbs do not have this property
(i.e. they do not assign a theta role to their subject because they do not have an external
argument).
OTHER POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS FOR PRO
Radford (2009) provides the following examples to show that there are other options apart
from subject control and object control. In the following sentences:
It is important [CP Ø PROarb to study hard]
It is important [CP Ø PROarb not to overwork oneself]
PRO is said to have arbitrary reference since it denotes an arbitrary individual (it is
important for you, for me, for anybody).
In the following sentence PRO has a discourse controller since it gets its reference from the
situational context (it refers to the speaker)
It is vital [CP Ø to prepare myself properly for the exam]
CONTROL ADJECTIVES
Control adjectives are two-place adjectives. The most typical example is eager, so they are
known as the eager-class, as in:
Alex was eager [CP Ø PRO to see Izzie.]
Eager takes two arguments, one occupies subject position and the other complement position.
Eager assigns a theta role to each. The subject is an experiencer and its complement a
theme/event.
Other examples of control adjectives are: willing, reluctant, keen.
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John was reluctant [CP Ø PRO to read anything about the war.].
John was very keen [CP Ø PRO to help].
Control adjectives also differ from raising adjectives such as likely, bound, etc because they
have an external argument and they assign a theta role to it.
Lesson 43 Activity 1:
Haegeman & Guéron (1999) and Haegeman (1994) provide the examples given below when
discussing PRO. State what kind of reference PRO has in each of them:
1. I wonder [CP whether Ø PRO to buy a newspaper].
2. [CP Whether Ø PRO to buy a newspaper or not] is a big issue.
3. [CP Ø PRO to read the newspaper every day] is important.
4. John remembers [CP Ø PRO locking the door].
5. John told Mary [CP Ø PRO to behave herself].
6. [CP Ø PRO not to behave myself] would be wrong.
References:
Haegeman, L. (1994) Introduction to Government & Binding Theory, 2nd edition. Blackwell.
Haegeman, L. & J. Guéron (1999) English Grammar: a generative perspective. Blackwell.
Radford, A. (2009) Analysing English Sentences: A Minimalist Approach. CUP:
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