Publication ｜Sophia Linguistica
Daisuke Inoue
This article investigates the effect of of Prise en charge (commitment) for explaining
modal choice in the subordinate clause of opinion verbs such as croire (believe) and
penser (think) when used in a negative sentence. Research conducted by Inoue (2018)
found that there were no significant effects of Prise en charge when croire and penser
were used in the negative question. However, further research by Inoue (2018b) suggests
that Prise en charge may explain modal choice between indicative and subjunctive,
because it seems that politeness could have an influence on the modal choice. Thus, since
politeness did not seem to influence modal choice when croire and penser are used in the
negative sentence it was necessary to further investigate the effects of Prise en charge.
Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that Prise on charge does have an
effect on modal choice when croire and penser are used in a negative sentence, despite the
presence of other factors having an influence on the usage in this context.
