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Tkacka15 Posted 7 years ago
Vocabulary

Have had to vote

It was the first opportunity people have had to vote.

Is the first opportunity people have had to vote a noun phrase in the sentence above?

(I think it is.)

Is the verb "have had" a lexical one (an experience "have") being in catenative construction with "to vote" or is it part of the obligation expression there?

(I think it is the former.)

  

Top answer

It was the first opportunity (that) people have had to vote . Yes: it's an NP with "opportunity" as head. Within the NP is the relative clause "(that) people have had to vote".

— BillJ

  • It was the first opportunity (that) people have had to vote .
  • Yes: it's an NP with "opportunity" as head.
  • Within the NP is the relative clause "(that) people have had to vote".
  • "Have" (the marker of the perfect tense) is a catenative verb with the past-participial clause "had to vote" as its catenative complement.
  • The infinitival "to vote" is complement of "opportunity", the noun the licenses it.
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1 Answers
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It was the first opportunity (that) people have had to vote.

Yes: it's an NP with "opportunity" as head.

Within the NP is the relative clause "(that) people have had to vote".

"Have" (the marker of the perfect tense) is a catenative verb with the past-participial clause "had to vote" as its catenative complement.

The infinitival "to vote" is complement of

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