Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online

In the present feature, we consider the similarities and differences between two complement clause types. On the one hand, we consider complement clauses which depend on the verb ‘think’ and where the subject of the main clause is different from the subject in the complement clause (e.g. English She thinks that her son is at home). On the other hand, we look at complement clauses of ‘want’ where the subject of the matrix clause is again different from the subject in the complement clause (e.g. English She wants her son to come home). For same-subject complement clauses of ‘want’, see Feature 97 (“Want complement subjects”).

In comparing these two complement clause types, two separate parameters are relevant:

(i) whether there is an overt complementizer, and

(ii) if so, whether both complement types show the same complementizer or different complementizers.