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THINKING

المؤلف:  R.M.W. Dixon

المصدر:  A Semantic approach to English grammar

الجزء والصفحة:  272-8

2023-04-04

1518

THINKING

This type includes verbs of thinking, knowing, believing and the like. They typically refer to some unit of information, which can be realized as a THAT, WH-, WH- TO or Judgement TO complement. Thus, I thought that it would rain today, She forgot whether she had turned the stove off, We pondered over who to appoint, She believed him to be handsome.

 

The ASSUME subtype and positive members of the BELIEVE class must refer to something quite definite, and thus cannot take WH- or WH- to complements. Compare with verbs from CONCLUDE, which can indicate that a conclusion has been reached without necessarily revealing what it is; thus We believe that John did it, but not *We believe who did it, as against We have inferred that John did it and We have inferred who did it. Doubt, a negative member of BELIEVE, takes whether (and also THAT) clauses.

 

Verbs from the PONDER subtype refer to modes of thinking; they typically take WH- complements, e.g. We speculated over who might have slapped him, They brooded over whether to go or not. Most of these verbs will seldom (or never) occur with THAT complements—referring to some definite fact—or with Judgement TO clauses. Forget and doubt, because of their inherently negative meanings, are seldom found with Judgement TO—thus I remembered/believed her to be polite but not *I forgot/doubted her to be polite (although some speakers can say I’d forgotten him to be so tall).

 

Verbs in the THINK, PONDER and REMEMBER subtypes, and understand from KNOW—but not ASSUME, CONCLUDING, SOLVE, BELIEVE and the remainder of KNOW—may relate to some continuous activity, by means of an ING complement, e.g. I thought of/pondered over/remembered her building that wall all by herself. If the complement clause subject is coreferential with main clause subject it will be omitted, e.g. I thought of/remembered building that wall all by myself. The potential semantic contrast between THAT (referring to some specific event or state) and ING (referring to something extended in time) is brought out in:

(78a) I can understand that Mary was upset (when her spectacles broke)

(78b) I can understand Mary(’s) being upset (all this year, because of the legal fuss over her divorce)

 

Remember, forget, know and learn may relate to the complement clause subject getting involved in some activity, described by a Modal (FOR) TO complement, e.g. I remembered/knew for Mary to take a pill after breakfast yesterday. One most commonly remembers etc. something that one should do oneself; complement clause subject will then be coreferential with main clause subject and will be omitted (together with for), in the same way that the coreferential subject of an ING clause is omitted—thus I remembered/knew to take a pill after breakfast yesterday. For teach, a lexical causative related to know, the subject of the complement clause—which is in post-object slot—is omitted when coreferential with main clause object, e.g. I taught Mary to take a pill after breakfast each day. Think can also be used with a Modal (FOR) TO complement in marked circumstances (typically, in a question or a negative clause), e.g. Did you think to lock the door? or I didn’t think to lock the door (but scarcely *I thought to lock the door).