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Subject thematic role
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Present participles always assign the same external thematic role which the corresponding tensed verb assigns to the subject in a sentence in the active voice.

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Present participles always assign the same external thematic role which the corresponding tensed verb assigns to the subject in a sentence in the active voice:

1
a. De feint fluitet in lietsje
the young.man whistles a song
The young man whistles a song
b. De fluitsjende feint
the whistling young.man
The whistling young man
c. *It fluitsjende lietsje
the whistling song
The whistling song

The construction in which the present participle occurs does not affect the choice of thematic role that is externally assigned by it. Present participles cannot be accompanied by a by-phrase, unlike past participles, since present participles assign the subject thematic role externally.

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