Raising and control patterns

Some verbs let the subject of the main clause belong semantically to the infinitive; others assign a role to that subject themselves. The difference is subtle but useful: it affects which nouns and pronouns can appear, and whether an impersonal it-clause is possible.

Raising: the subject belongs with the infinitive

With seem, appear and be likely, the subject usually describes the person or thing involved in the infinitive action:

The proposal seems to address the main objection.
The applicants are likely to have misunderstood the deadline.

The proposal is what addresses the objection; the applicants are who misunderstood the deadline. The verb seem or likely does not assign them an independent role.

That is why an impersonal version is possible:

It seems that the proposal addresses the main objection.
It is likely that the applicants misunderstood the deadline.

The it does not refer to a thing. It introduces the assessment.

Control: the main verb gives someone a role

With persuade, tell, encourage and expect, the object is the person who will perform the infinitive action:

The chair persuaded the panel to reconsider its decision.
We expect the contractor to provide a revised estimate.

The panel reconsiders; the contractor provides. The main verb identifies who receives persuasion or expectation, and that object controls the understood subject of the infinitive.

Compare seem and persuade:

The panel seems to have changed its view.
The chair persuaded the panel to change its view.

In the first, panel is the subject of seem and of change. In the second, the chair persuades; panel is the object and the understood subject of change.

Add perfect meaning without changing the pattern

A perfect infinitive can show that the infinitive event came first:

The witness appears to have left before the hearing.
The investigators expected the files to have been copied.

Keep the original frame: appear + to-infinitive; expect + object + to-infinitive. Do not add a that-clause to the wrong verb pattern.

Common mistakes

• The proposal seems that it addresses the issue. Use The proposal seems to address the issue or It seems that the proposal addresses the issue.
• They persuaded that the panel reconsider. Name the person persuaded: They persuaded the panel to reconsider.
• The witness is likely leaving already has a different aspect and may imply an action in progress. For a general prediction, use is likely to leave.
• Do not confuse control of the infinitive with control of the main verb’s subject. In The chair persuaded the panel, the chair persuades; the panel reconsiders.

Quick check

Identify the person or thing doing the infinitive action.

1. The revised figures appear to confirm the trend.
2. The editor urged the author to clarify the claim.
3. It happened to be raining when the team arrived.

Answers: 1 the figures confirm; 2 the author clarifies; 3 it is an impersonal subject and the rain is the event. The first two show the difference between raising and object control.

Use the subject test

A practical way to distinguish raising from control is to ask two questions:

1. Who performs the infinitive action?
2. Does the main verb give that noun a separate role, or does it merely present an assessment of the infinitive event?

With seem, appear and be likely, the subject is principally understood through the infinitive:

The parcel seems to contain the missing pages.

The parcel contains them. Seem does not assign the parcel a role such as experiencer or decision-maker; it presents the speaker’s assessment of the content. This is called raising because the noun that belongs semantically with the infinitive appears in the subject position of the main clause.

The same idea can be expressed with an anticipatory subject:

It seems that the parcel contains the missing pages.
There seem to be two missing pages.

The impersonal it carries no real-world reference; the that-clause gives the proposition. In there seem to be, the noun phrase two missing pages is introduced as existing.

Control: the main verb selects the person

With persuade, remind, order, encourage and expect, the person after the verb is the one expected, persuaded or instructed to perform the infinitive action:

The chair persuaded the panel to reconsider.
We expected the courier to arrive before noon.

The panel reconsiders; the courier arrives. These are examples of object control: the object controls the understood subject of the infinitive.

Some control verbs omit an object, in which case the subject supplies the understood infinitive subject:

The chair promised to reconsider the decision.

The chair promised and the chair would reconsider. This is often called subject control. Compare The chair persuaded the panel to reconsider: the chair persuaded, but the panel would reconsider.

Why the distinction matters

Raising verbs allow an impersonal paraphrase; control verbs generally do not preserve the same meaning in that frame:

The proposal seems to be incomplete.
It seems that the proposal is incomplete.

But:

The chair persuaded the panel to revise the proposal.
It persuaded that the panel revise the proposal.

The second example lacks the person who was persuaded and does not reproduce the original structure. Use a finite clause only if the verb licenses it and the roles remain clear.

A perfect infinitive can be added without changing raising or control:

The witness appears to have left.
The investigators expected the witness to have left.

In both, leaving is earlier. The first is raising; the second makes the investigators the people who held the expectation.

Guided practice

Identify the person or thing doing the infinitive action, then classify the pattern.

1. The evidence appears to support the claim.
2. The director instructed the assistant to revise the schedule.
3. The director agreed to revise the schedule.
4. Rewrite with an anticipatory subject: The applicants are likely to have misunderstood the deadline.

Answers and reasoning

1. The evidence supports the claim: raising with appear.
2. The assistant revises it: object control with instruct.
3. The director revises it: subject control with agree.
4. It is likely that the applicants misunderstood the deadline. This keeps the same assessment and past reference.

Use the same infinitive frame in related forms

Raising and control do not decide whether the infinitive is bare or introduced by to; the main verb’s pattern does. These verbs normally take a to-infinitive:

seem to understand
be likely to have changed
expect the team to respond
persuade the team to respond

After a modal, use a bare infinitive instead: The figures may prove inaccurate, not may to prove. Some verbs allow a noun clause as an alternative, while others need a different subject frame:

The figures seem to differ. / It seems that the figures differ.
The chair persuaded the panel to reconsider. / The chair persuaded the panel that a review was needed.

The second pair contains two possible complements of persuade, but the roles differ: in the infinitive sentence, the panel is the one who reconsiders; in the that-clause, the claim is what the chair persuaded the panel of. Learn verb patterns together with their meaning.

Passive control can change the surface subject without changing who performs the infinitive action:

The panel was persuaded to reconsider.

The panel receives the persuasion and performs the reconsidering. This differs from raising: The panel seems to have reconsidered, where seem does not assign the panel a role beyond the event being assessed.

Further reading

• Cambridge Dictionary: seem
• Cambridge Dictionary: verb patterns with and without objects