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Complement clauses as passive subjects

المؤلف:  R.M.W. Dixon

المصدر:  A Semantic approach to English grammar

الجزء والصفحة:  367-11

2023-04-18

1635

Complement clauses as passive subjects

An ING complement clause in O relation can almost always become passive subject. This applies whether the verb of the main clause is primary— Mary’s having been passed over was mentioned at the party—or secondary—Counting the prisoners was begun/tried on Tuesday. It also applies to ING clauses that are the object of a verb with an inherent preposition, e.g. Jane’s having been promoted was pondered over. As mentioned, the NP object of a LIKING verb is not very frequently passivized, and this applies also to an ING clause, although it is just possible to say, for instance, Mary’s singing the blues was preferred to John’s warbling Verdi.

 

A THAT or WH- clause in O relation passivizes much like an ING clause, except that here the complement clause is most often extraposed to the end of the main clause, with it filling the subject slot, e.g. with primary verbs, It was reported that war had broken out, It was recognized that we would all die, and with secondary verbs, It was expected/hoped that it would all be over quickly. Exceptions include ensure, the only verb from the MAKING type to take a THAT complement, which is scarcely acceptable in the passive; and LIKING verbs, which must include it before a THAT complement (They like it that Mary plays the fiddle), do not allow the THAT clause to become passive subject (*It is liked that Mary plays the fiddle).

 

Verbs from the ORDER subtype of SPEAKING have an Addressee NP in O slot, and this can be followed by a THAT clause. Most ORDER verbs may omit the Addressee, and the THAT clause may then be passivized, e.g. It is requested that empty cans be placed in the litter bin, It has been ordered that all prisoners should be shot at dawn. However, if an Addressee NP is included only this may become passive subject, not the THAT clause, e.g. The firing squad have been ordered that all prisoners should be shot at dawn, not *It has been ordered the firing squad that all prisoners should be shot at dawn.

 

A Modal (FOR) TO complement clause has three variant forms: (i) the full form with for retained, e.g. I chose for Mary to go—here for Mary to go fills the O slot; (ii) a reduced form in which for is omitted but the complement clause subject retained, e.g. I chose Mary to go—here Mary is surface object of the main verb, with to go being a post-object constituent; (iii) a further reduced form where the complement clause subject is omitted under coreferentiality with the subject NP in the main clause, e.g. I chose to go—here to go fills object slot. As discussed above, the only possible passive of type (ii) is on the surface object NP (which is also underlying subject of the complement clause), e.g. Mary was chosen to go. We can now enquire whether the for clause in (i) and the to clause in (iii) may become passive subject.

 

They may be in principle, but seldom are in practice. A Modal (FOR) TO complement describes the complement clause subject getting involved in an activity, but also carries a sense that the subject of the main clause wanted it to happen; in view of this, the transitive subject is seldom open to demotion in a passive. It is just possible for a full Modal (FOR) TO clause to be passivized with some verbs from DECIDING, WANTING and LIKING, e.g. For John to receive the house and Mary the money was finally decided on or It was finally decided for John to receive the house and Mary the money; It had been intended for Mary to go; and It was preferred for the sermon to come last. A reduced form of Modal (FOR) TO, as in (iii) of the last paragraph, may also become passive subject with some verbs from DECIDING and WANTING (but not, it seems, from LIKING), e.g. It was decided to eliminate wastage, It is hoped/planned/intended to complete these tasks today.

 

For a Judgement TO complement the complement clause subject is always the surface object of the main verb. This kind of complement construction is very frequently passivized, often so as to avoid specifying who is responsible for the judgement, e.g. They know John to be stupid, John is known to be stupid. The verb say only takes a Judgement TO complement in the passive, e.g. He is said to be stupid but not *They say him to be stupid.

 

The verb rumour may take a THAT or a Judgement TO complement clause but is seldom (or never) found in anything but the passive, e.g. It was rumoured that John had died, John was rumoured to be dead (but scarcely *They rumoured that John had died, *They rumoured John to be dead ). Similar remarks apply to repute, which is generally used in the passive, with a Judgement TO complement, e.g. Mary is reputed to be a secret drinker, but not *They repute Mary to be a secret drinker.

 

The subject of a FROM ING complement clause is always also identified as surface object of the main verb, and may be passivized, e.g. John was stopped from going. WH- TO complements seldom or never passivize, partly because, as with Modal (FOR) TO, the semantic orientation of the main clause subject demands that it be kept in that syntactic slot (e.g. They didn’t understand how to behave, but scarcely *How to behave was not understood ).

 

In summary, the possibilities of a complement clause, in underlying object function, becoming passive subject are again determined by conditions.