There-constructions with transitive verbs

Abstract

In this paper we address the question of which transitive verbs allow there-insertion in Danish. We propose that two constraints have to be met in order for verbs to appear in Danish there-constructions. Firstly, as have been noted by others, an empty direct object position must be available. This constraint is not sufficient for restricting the set of verbs in there-constructions. We further propose a locative constraint. The transitive verbs allowing there-insertion will be shown to coincide with verbs that allow a locative analysis.