«Em sap greu d’insistir-hi». The preposition «de» before infinitive I: infinitive and mood

Abstract

The present study aims to address a complex topic in the grammar of Catalan, namely the use of the preposition de before some infinitival constructions, like in «Juan li va proposar d’anar al cinema» (‘Juan suggested him [de] going to the cinema’). We claim that introducing the preposition de is sensible to modal factors that also determine the degree of optionality of this preposition. With verbs like «proposar» (‘propose’) or «demanar» (‘request’), the insertion of de is (almost) mandatory for all Catalan speakers, while with verbs such as «desitjar» (‘desire’, ‘wish’) or «esperar» (‘expect’), the preposition is optional for some speakers (if not ungrammatical for others). From a modal classification, we propose a continuum that can account for these facts.