Non-obligatory or Optional Control
Control predicates (such as promise, stop, try, ask, tell, force, yearn, refuse, attempt) obligatorily induce a control construction. That is, when control predicates appear, they inherently determine which of their arguments controls the embedded predicate. Control is hence obligatorily present with these predicates. In contrast, many predicates can be controlled even when a superordinate control predicate is absent, e.g.
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- He left singing all the way.
- Understanding nothing, the class protested.
- Holding his breath too long, Fred passed out.
In one sense, control is obligatory in these sentences because the present participles singing, understanding, and holding are clearly controlled by the matrix subjects. In another sense, however, control is non-obligatory (or optional) because there is no control predicate present that necessitates that control occur. General contextual factors are determining which expression is understood as the controller. The controller is the subject in these sentences because the subject establishes point of view.
Read more about this topic: Control (linguistics)
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