Author Topic: Non-finite subjunctive clause.  (Read 6316 times)

Offline mallu

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Non-finite subjunctive clause.
« on: April 24, 2014, 12:16:55 AM »

Can a non-finite subjunctive clause with null T  occur with any verb?,provided that they are not semantically barred form choosing a clause as their arguement
here is an e.g. of a sentence
1) He requested[that she have a second chance]

Are the following sentences O.K

2) He wanted that she be given a second chance
3) The company requires that their new Chairman be a Non-European(Wrong? ,but the reason is not non-finiteness of the subjunctive clause?)
4) He wished that the new President take some initiative for talks

Offline Daniel

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Re: Non-finite subjunctive clause.
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2014, 08:50:50 AM »
The distribution of clausal complements is limited in English. Some verbs only take infinitives, while others only take clauses, and some can take both.

1) "Request" can take a 'that' clause.

2) This is ungrammatical, and I don't think any native speaker of English would say it. It is acceptable in other languages and the default in Greek, for example.
3) This is acceptable. It's a little more formal than an infinitive, but both are fine.
4) Certainly the 'that' clause is acceptable. The use of the subjunctive is a little weird here. "would take" is much more natural, or also "took" (the past subjunctive).
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