Abstract

Complement clause constructions in English are evolving. This study demonstrates that shifts in speakers’ focus of consciousness can induce changes in a construction’s complement clause, affecting both its syntax and semantics. The construction [This is the [ordinal number (ON)] time (that)] (e.g., This is the first time (that)) typically employs the present perfect, as in This is the first time that I’ve heard her sing (Swan, 2017). However, corpus data from English-Corpora.org reveal that the pattern [This is the ON time (that) + S + present tense or present progressive] is also attested (e.g., …this is the first time you see formal territorial markers…, COCA, 2006, ACAD), reflecting shifts in speaker perspective and current experiential focus, despite the construction not ordinarily requiring these tenses. This study adopts a qualitative, corpus-based approach to describe and interpret these non-canonical patterns, focusing on [This is the first time (that)]. Emphasis is placed on mapping meaning and speaker viewpoint onto observed constructions, rather than on quantitative prevalence. The analysis clarifies how the function of [This is the ON time (that)] shifts with its complement clause, illustrating the interaction between construction and tense/aspect—i.e., colligation—and providing a precise, comprehensible account of ongoing changes in English complement clause constructions.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.