Functions of passive and impersonal constructions : a case study from Swedish
Jan Anward · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · 1981
Passive and impersonal constructions in Swedish are examined. It is argued that these are used instead of constructions with locative subjects, subject clauses, referentially dependent subjects, and subject ellipsis, which are excluded by the condition that a Swedish clause-level construction should be an expansion of a basic subject noun phrase - verb construction with a referentially independent subject. The motivation for this condition is then discussed. Finally, it is demonstrated that the notions of topic and given information have only an indirect relevance to the analysis of Swedish passive and impersonal sentences.