Some Consideration of Non-controlled PRO in French

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to figure out the occurrence of non-controlled expletive PRO in French infinitives and gerunds. My discussion begins with the question whether, if the "impersonal il" derived from the extraposition is different from the "meteorological il", their corresponding empty categories must be distinguished or not, from the structural and interpretative point of view. While examining the constructions in question and proposing a different analysis from that of English constructions, I will argue that the expletive PRO having ungoverned argumental properties exists in French infinitives and gerunds, and must be distinguished from the pleonastic PRO derived from the meteorological il. This will follow that it is not necessary to suppose other redundant empty categories in these constructions.