In linguistics, a control verb is a verb with an argument that is a verb and one or more arguments that are nouns, such that one of the noun arguments is semantically an argument both of the control verb and of the verb argument. For example, in "He tried to do that," tried is a control verb, where its subject he is semantically the subject both of tried and of to do. Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist or linguistician. ... A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. ... Look up argument in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A noun, or noun substantive, is a part of speech (a word or phrase) which can co-occur with (in)definite articles and attributive adjectives, and function as the head of a noun phrase. ... In the main, semantics (from the Greek semantikos, or significant meaning, derived from sema, sign) is the study of meaning, in some sense of that term. ...

Control and raising verbs

The term control verb is sometimes generalized somewhat to include raising verbs, which are much the same, except with a noun argument being semantically an argument only of the verb argument, not of the raising verb itself. For example, in "He seemed to do that," seemed is a raising verb, where its subject he semantically the subject of to do rather than of seemed. (Note that one could say, "It seemed that he did that," but not, *"It tried that he did that." Similarly, one could say, "That seemed to be done by him," but "That tried to be done by him" would be syntactically well-formed but would have a different, non-sensical meaning.) Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning co- or together) and τάξις (táxis, meaning sequence, order, arrangement), can be described as the study of the rules, or patterned relations that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. ...

As with many technical terms, both control verb and raising verb are used somewhat differently in different papers, partly because different linguistic theories may group verbs in somewhat different hierarchies.

Object- and subject-control verbs

In English and many other languages, control verbs may be classified as either subject-control, meaning that it is their (syntactic) subject that is semantically shared, or object-control, meaning that it is their (syntactic) object that is. For example, try is subject-control (as seen above), while convince is object-control: in "She convinced him to do that," him is syntactically only the direct object of convinced, but semantically also the subject of to do. The subject of a sentence is one of the two main parts of a sentence, the other being the predicate. ... In linguistics, the object of a transitive verb is one of its core arguments, which generally represents the target of the verbs action. ...

Note that a verb may be subject-control in one sentence and object-control in another. For example, in "She asked to be left alone," asked is subject-control, while in "She asked him to leave her alone," asked is object-control. Generally, when such a verb takes an object, it is implied that it is acting as an object-control verb; for example, speakers of English would likely find a bit odd the sentence "She asked him to be allowed to stay" (with the intended meaning of "She asked him for permission to stay"), initially attempting to interpret it as "She asked of him that he be allowed to stay," but they would likely understand it after a moment.