De complementen van hoeven

Abstract

This paper describes which complements can be selected by the Dutch modal verb hoeven (need). It is based on the provisional outcome of current corpus research of spoken Dutch. Although this corpus research shows that Dutch modal verbs are mostly used as auxiliaries, they also appear as main verbs. In over 25% of the analysed utterances, hoeven occurs as a main verb, which selects non verbal complements, such as adjectival, prepositional and nominal phrases. It is being argued that a classification of these complements according to the standard grammar of Dutch, the Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst (ANS), is not very satisfying. Therefore, this paper introduces an alternative analysis, in which two overall patterns are being distinguished. The first pattern consists of hoeven, selecting different types of complements. Characteristic of this pattern is a (mostly) animate subject, which is part of a predicate-argument relation. The second pattern consists of hoeven, selecting no complements at all. Characteristic of this second pattern is an inanimate subject, which refers to a proposition.