The Complex Subject

7.3.1. The Complex Subject is a predicative complex with INF that includes the Subj. (N/Pron. in the Common Case or a Pers. Pron. in the Nominative Case) and the INF phrase. The first – nominal – element of the complex is separated from its predicative element – the INF – by the finite verb: The picture is considered to be one of Rembrandt’s early paintings.

However, the finite verb which structurally is the predicate of such sentence is semantically incomplete (… is considered …). It forms a meaningful unity with the infinitive phrase that follows (… is considered to be one of Rembrandt’s early paintings) thus expressing something that is said in the sentence about the subject. The INF phrase characterizes the subject, but it is done by way of secondary predication:

The picture is one of Rembrandt’s early paintings. à The picture … to be one of Rembrandt’s early paintings.

So the INF may be understood as serving two functions: to make the subject structurally complex by secondary predication and to provide the semantic complement to the finite-verb predicate.

The predicative relations between the Subj. and the INF are similar to the relations between the elements of the Complex Object: The picture is considered to be one of Rembrandt’s early paintings. à We consider the pictureto be one of Rembrandt’s early paintings.

7.3.2. The Complex Subject is used with a limited number of finite verbs that are nested in the Subjective Predicative Complex. They are transitive verbs in the passive voice denoting:

- saying/reporting/informing (announce, claim, declare, describe, report, say, state, suggest, predict, etc .): He was mentioned to have gone to France some time last month. The delegation was reported to have left the talks in protest;

- mental activity (assume, estimate, expect, believe, fear, suppose, consider, know, mean, presume, regard, recognize, think, understand, etc. ): Mary is expected to finish her degree paper by May. The picture is presumed to have been stolen from a private collection;

- sense perception (feel, hear, see, watch, notice, observe, and also find, discover in the meaning ‘evidence’): He was seen to be talking to somebody by the fence. Tom was never heard to mention his name;

- causation (inducement) (force, make, cause, order): They were made to wait in silence. The generals were made to sign the treaty. The circumstances were such that he was caused to stay here longer than he intended to.

Note how suppose has two different meanings in He is supposed to be at work at the moment: ‘People think he is at work’ or ‘It is his duty to be at work’.