Study Unit 5

CONSTRUCTIONS BASED ON RAISING.

SUBJECT-TO-OBJECT RAISING.

Definition. The term ‘raising’ is used to refer to the movement of the subject of a sentential
complement to another position (the subject or the direct object position) in a higher clause. Hence,
there are two types of raising: subject-to-subject raising and subject-to-object raising.

Consider the following example, in which the subject of the complement clause moves to the
position of subject in the main clause:

It seems [that Bill has won a prize].

Bill seems [to have won the prize].

This type of movement is known as subject-to subject raising (hence abbreviated as SSR). This
movement is made possible by the main verb seem that has an athematic subject position.
In the following example, the subject of the complement clause (Bill) moves to the position
of the Direct Object in the main clause:

I believe [that Bill is clever].

I believe Bill [to be clever].

The movement of the Subject of the complement clause to the position of the Direct Object in the
main clause is called subject-to-object raising (hence abbreviated as SOR). This movement is
made possible by the transitive verb believe in the main clause.

Thus, the Subject of the infinitival complement clause is moved into the main clause, where it
becomes either Subject or Direct Object. Main verbs, like seem and believe, that trigger raising are
called raising verbs. Raising turns finite complement clauses into non-finite ones.

Constructions based on raising are involved in the production of a class of patterns that have been
known to traditional grammarians for a long time. In what follows we will focus on constructions
based on subject-to-object raising.

5.1. The Accusative + Infinitive construction

The Accusative + Infinitive construction is the direct result of SOR (i.e. the subject Bill moves
from the complement clause to the subject position in the main clause):

He believes [that Bill is honest]. (that-complement clause)

He believes Bill [to be honest]. (SOR)
Acc.+Infinitive

5.2. The accusative + present/ past participle

By applying SOR, the following constructions are obtained by BE deletion:

The accusative + present participle construction results from SOR and deletion of the
progressive auxiliary BE:

She saw [that Bill was running]. (deletion of progressive be)

She saw Bill [running]. (SOR)
Acc. + Present Participle

The accusative + past participle construction is derived by SOR and deletion of the passive
auxiliary BE:

They found [that he was killed by a bomb]. (deletion of passive be)

They found him [killed by a bomb]. (SOR)
Acc. + Past Participle

5.3 Verbs that allow subject-to-object raising

Most verbs that allow SOR also have corresponding that-complements. Such verbs can be grouped
according to their meaning into:

1. Verbs expressing attitude that take a [+human] Subject and a clausal DO: assert, admit,
assume, believe, consider, understand, think, suspect, suppose, remember, know, guess, imagine,
declare, hold, make out, report, take, deny, grant, state, indicate, recognise:

They suspected [ that he was the murderer]

They suspected him [to be the murderer]. (Accusative + Infinitive)

They showed [that he was the real offender].

He was shown [to be the real offender]. (Nominative + Infinitive)

Both the Accusative + Infinitive and the Nominative + Infinitive constructions allow the participle
to be preceded by as:

They consider [that this agreement is legally binding on both parties].

They consider this agreement as legally binding on both parties.
This agreement is considered [ as legally binding on both parties].

2. Causative verbs like: cause, occasion, necessitate, make, let, have do not have alternative that
constructions:

I couldn’t get him [to pay the least attention]. (Accusative + Infinitive)
I’ll have you all [speaking fluent English]. (Accusative + Present Participle)
I remember being made [to write the same thing twice]. (Nominative+ Infinitive)

The causative verbs make, get, have frequently occur in an Accusative+ Past Participle
construction resulting from the deletion of the passive auxiliary BE in the complement clause:

I had my tooth [ extracted]. (Accusative + Past Participle)

 He must get his hair [cut].

3. Verbs of liking and disliking: like, prefer, want, need, expect, intend, choose, etc.:

They expected him [to win the competition]. (Accusative + Infinitive)

4. Verbs of physical perception: see, hear, overhear, listen to, watch, feel, find, perceive, note,
notice, observe:

We saw [that John crossed the street].

We saw John [cross the street]. (Accusative + Infinitive)

We saw [that John was crossing the street].

We saw John [crossing the street]. (Accusative + Present Participle)

The semantic difference between these two constructions is that between the simple and the
progressive forms. The simple infinitive suggests the completed action, while the progressive
indicates an on-going process that someone witnessed only partially.

The form of the infinitive depends on the voice used in the main clause. A verb of perception in
the active voice is followed by the short infinitive, while a verb of perception in the passive voice
takes a long infinitive:

They saw [that he danced last night].

They saw him [ dance last night]. (Accusative + short infinitive)
He was seen [ to dance last night]. (Nominative + long infinitive)

They heard [that the President declared war on Japan].

They heard the President [declare war on Japan]. (Accusative + short infinitive)
The President was heard [to declare war on Japan]. (Nominative + long infinitive)
 Study Unit 6
CONSTRUCTIONS BASED ON RAISING.
SUBJECT-TO-SUBJECT RAISING.

For all constructions given in sections 5.1. and 5.2, the corresponding Nominative + Verb
constructions can be derived if we passivise the main verb or if we apply SSR and BE deletion.

6.1. The Nominative + Infinitive construction can be derived in two ways.

It may be the direct result of SSR, when the main clause contains an intransitive verb, such as
seem, appear, happen:

It seems [that he is honest]. (that-complement clause)

He seems [to be honest]. (SSR)
Nom. + Infinitive

The Nominative + Infinitive construction is also derived by means of SOR and passivisation of
the main verb, when this verb is transitive:

They believe [that Sam is honest]. (that-complement clause)

They believe Sam [to be honest]. (SOR)
Sam is believed [to be honest]. (passivisation of the main verb)
Nom. + Infinitive

6.2 Nominative + present/ past participle

The Nominative + Present Participle constructions is the result of SOR, deletion of progressive
auxiliary BE and passivisation of the main verb:

They saw [that Bill was running]. (deletion of progressive be)

They saw Bill [running]. (SOR)
Bill was seen [running]. (passivisation of the main verb)
Nom. + Present Participle

The Nominative + Past Participle is derived by SOR, deletion of passive be and passivisation of
the verb in the main clause:

They found [that he was killed by a bomb]. (deletion of passive be)

They found him [ killed by a bomb]. (SOR)
He was found [ killed by a bomb]. (passivisation of the main verb)
Nom. + Past Participle

6.3 Classes of main verbs that allow Subject-to-Subject Raising

The classes of verbs that allow the Subject of the complement clause to move to Subject position
in the main clause are:
1. intransitive verbs: appear, seem, happen, turn out, prove, chance:

It happens [that he knows English].

He happens [to know English]. (Nominative + Infinitive)

2. predicative adjectives: likely, unlikely, sure, certain:

It is likely [that they have heard the announcement].

They are likely [to have heard the announcement]. (Nominative + Infinitive)

3. aspectual verbs: begin, continue, commence, start, stop:

He was annoyed by the noise.

John began [to be annoyed by the noise]. (Nominative + Infinitive)

4. the verbal phrases had better, had best that are followed by an infinitive without to:

You’d better [tell her everything]. (Nominative + short Infinitive)

There had better [be no mistakes in your paper].
You had better [not say anything].
We had better [not miss the start of his presentation].

In questions inversion takes place between the subject and had:

Had I better [speak to Joan first] before I sent this form off?

Negative questions with had better are more common than affirmative ones:

Hadn’t we better [ring the school] and [tell them] that Jane is sick?
Hadn’t you better [switch your computer off]? It might overheat if you leave it on.

5. be + adjective combinations: to be about to, to be apt to, to be bound, to be set to, etc.

The doctor will soon examine John.

The doctor is about [to examine John]. (Nominative + Infinitive)

See Cornilescu (1982: 274-296) for advanced reading on the patterns based on raising and an
examination of the classes of main verbs that allow raising to take place. For comments on the
frequency of occurrence of constructions based on raising, see Biber et al (1999: 728-738).