Infinitive clauses as matrix verbs complementation in Shakespeare

Abstract EN

The aim of this research is to find out why some matrix verbs are no longer complemented by the two types of infinitive clauses as it is the case in Elizabethan English .

At that time (when Shakespeare was writing ), the same matrix verb triggers the two types of infinitive clauses as its complex transitive complementation .Such free variation is not possible in Present –Day English .

In this corpus – based study , it is shown that the choice of the form of the infinitive clause is not free; there are certain syntactic ,sem- antic constraints that dete, - infinitive.