Complex transi/ve complementa/on (Part II)

Varie&es of complex transi&ve complementa&on

The varie&es of complex transi&ve complementa&on include instances in which the direct object is
followed by a nonfinite clause ac&ng as predica&on adjunct. All kinds of nonfinite construc&ons are
possible:

to-infini9ve: The know him to be a spy. bare infini9ve: I heard someone slam the door.

-ing par9ciple: I caught Ann reading my diary. -ed par9ciple: We saw him beaten by Cassius Clay.

The nonfinite clause in these paAerns has not subject itself, but its implied subject is always the
preceding noun phrase, which is object of the superordinate clause. The noun phrase, which if a
personal pronoun is in the objec&ve case, is commonly termed a raised object. Seman&cally, it has
the role of subject of the nonfinite verb; but syntac&cally it is ‘raised’ from the nonfinite clause to
func&on as object of the superordinate verb. Hence in general, this noun phrase can become
subject of the corresponding passive.

He was known to be a spy. Someone was heard to slam the door.

Ann was caught reading my diary. He was seen executed by the firing squad.

Note: The passive of bare infini&ve normally requires subs&tu&on of a to-infini&ve for a bare
infini&ve, and the passive of -ed par&ciple is of marginal currency.

On the face of it, the paAerns with the to-infini&ve and the -ing par&ciple are indis&nguishable
from the monotransi&ve paAern, e.g. She hates the train to be late. and She hates the train being
late., in which the nonfinite clause has a subject of its own. The ability of the noun phrase
preceding the nonfinite verb to become subject of a passive is, however, an important dis&nc&on
between them.

These paAerns are dis&nguished from corresponding paAerns in which the nonfinite clause is an
adverbial by the fact that the implied subject of the nonfinite verb is object rather than subject.
Note the ambiguity of:

She leL him to finish the job. She leL him holding the baby.

Object + to-infini&ve complementa&on

The verbs in this group are rather numerous, and can be subdivided into the following categories:

a) factual verbs, i.e. public verbs referring to speech acts such as announce, declare, proclaim,
and private verbs referring to speech acts such as assume, believe, consider. The nonfinite
construc&on following these verbs can oLen be replaced by a that-clause with an indica&ve
verb.
 John believed that the stranger was a policeman.
John believed the stranger to be a policeman. <formal>

With factual verbs like these, the nonfinite clause normally contains the verb to be or some
other verb of sta&ve meaning. Especially when the nonfinite main verb is other than be, the
finite clause is preferred to the infini&ve one, except that the infini&ve construc&on provides a
convenient passive form.

The stranger was believed to be a policeman.

Some verbs in this construc&on have no that-clause equivalent.

They &pped him to be the next president. <esp. BrE>

He was &pped to be the next president.
*They &pped that he would be the next president.

Some verbs, like rumour, say, see, occur only in the passive version of this construc&on.
The field marshal was said to be planning a new strategy.
*Someone said the field marshal to be planning a new strategy.

Other verbs, like repute, think, occur chiefly in the passive.

The Broadway produc&on was thought to have made Max’s fortune.
?Newsmen thought the Broadway produc&on to have made Max’s fortune.

b) verbs of inten&on such as intend, mean;

c) causa&ve verbs, where the infini&ve clause iden&fies the resultant state such as appoint, cause,
drive;
d) verbs with a modal, character, expressing such concepts as enablement, permission, and
compulsion such as allow, fit, oblige;
e) a variety of verbs of ‘influencing’ between which a common factor appears to be that the
nonfinite clause has a purposive meaning such as assist, bribe, summon.

There are a number of mul&-word verbs in this category: count on …. to…, depend on … to …; rely
on … to …; make … out to…; keep on at … to … [which has not passive].

They made him out to be a monster of depravity.

Object + bare infini&ve complementa&on

Sarah helped us edit the script.

This paAern occurs with a rela&vely small number of verbs:

a) verbs of coercive meaning such as have, let, make;
b) perceptual verbs of seeing and hearing such as feel, hear, observe;
c) residual class of two verbs which are op&onally followed by a to-infini&ve, i.e. help, know.

Know followed by the bare infini&ve is confined mainly to Bri&sh English, and the to perfec&ve
aspect, i.e. have known.
Let is in other construc&ons classified as similar to an auxiliary. Let has an apparent passive in
combina&on with such verbs as let go and let fall, but these are best regarded as fixed expressions,
in which let has an auxiliary of par&cle-like func&on.

They let the prisoner go home. ∽? The prisoner was let go home.

Note that this apparent passive has the bare infini&ve, in contrast, for example, to make, which has
to have the to-infini&ve in the passive.

The made him understand. ∽ He was made to understand.

Have, like have in monotransi&ve construc&on, does not occur in the passive.

They had me repeat the message. ∽ *I was head (to) repeat the message.

The formulaic nature of let him go and similar expressions is illustrated by the following variants,
which cannot be fiAed into any regular complementa&on paAern.

go the rope.

They let the rope go.

go of the rope.

Of the two construc&ons with help, that with to is more common in Bri&sh English, and that
without to is more common in American English.

A rare verb in category of verbs with coercive meaning is the now rather archaic bid, with a to-
infini&ve complementa&on in the passive.

They bid/bade me sit down. ∽ I was bidden to sit down.

Object + -ing par&ciple complementa&on

We could hear the rain splashing on the roof.

The verbs in this category consist of verbs of percep&on such as feel, hear, no9ce, verbs of
encounter such as catch, discover, find, and two verbs of coercive meaning have and get.

Percep&on verbs occur also with the bare infini&ve paAerns. With such verbs there is an aspect of
difference between them.

Tim watched Bill mend the car. ∽ Tim watched Bill mending the car.

The bare infini&ve, having nonprogressive meaning, implies that Bill did the whole job whole Tim
was watching. The -ing clause, with progressive meaning has no such implica&on.
This complementa&on paAern differs not only in its progressive aspect, but also in that the noun
phrase following the superordinate verb cannot take the geni&ve (or possessive) form.

I saw him lying on the beach. ∽ *I saw his lying on the beach.

Another difference is that the -ing predica&on can normally be omiAed without radically altering
the meaning.

I saw him lying on the beach. [entails: I saw him]

Contrast: I hate my friends leaving early. [does not entail: I hate my friend.]

The passive with paAern is regular.

A teacher caught them smoking in the playground. ∽ They were caught smoking in the
playground (by the teacher).

Preposi&onal verbs with this type of complementa&on include come across, come upon, listen to,
and look at.

Look at these children climbing the wall.

But these preposi&onal verbs have no preposi&onal passive.

seen

spotted
The guards have been searching the building.
?watched

*looked at

Have in this construc&on also has no passive.

She had us working day aLer day. ∽ *We were had working day aLer day.

Object + -ed par&ciple complementa&on

They found him worn out by travel and exer/on.

One can dis&nguished three small groups of verbs complemented by a raised object followed by an
-ed par&ciple clause:
a) causa&ve verbs: get, have;
b) voli&onal verbs: want, need, like;
c) perceptual verbs: see, hear, feel (oneself), watch.
A fourth group is peripheral to this construc&on and consists of verbs for which the -ed par&ciple
described a resul&ng state: find, discover, leave.

In this construc&on, have can have either an agen&ve causa&ve meaning, or a sta&ve meaning.
Hence The guard patrol had two men shot. is ambiguous, meaning either ‘The patrol caused two
men to be shot.’, or ‘The patrol suffered the loss of two men by shoo9ng.’ The laAer meaning is that
of the have-existen&al construc&on.

In general, this complementa&on type is seman&cally equivalent to one with an infini&ve form of
the verb be, so I would like my room cleaned. is synonymous with I would like my room to be
cleaned. and He saw the team beaten. is synonymous with He saw the team be beaten.

There is no passive for most of the verbs in this paAern, and, at best, the passive in dubious.

?The car must have been seen stolen.

The acceptability of the passive with the fourth type is excep&onal, e.g. The car was found
abandoned. This is, indeed, an indica&on that this type may not belong here so much as with the
object complement construc&on, the par&ciple construc&on being adjec&val (an abandoned car).

In addi&on to the two meanings of have + object + -ed par9ciple above, a third meaning results if
the -ed clause is analysed as a postmodifier of the object.

She had a book (which was) stolen from the library.

(Source: Quirk, R. et al, A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman, 1985)