English Dictionary

Thus, in a sentence such as:

(113) John considers [_S Fred to be too sure of himself]

the italicised Reflexive himself can only be construed with Fred, not with John: this follows from our assumption that non-subject Reflexives must have an antecedent within their own S. Notice, however, that in a sentence such as:

(114) John seems to me [_S — to have perjured himself]

Thus, in a sentence such as: (113) John considers [_S Fred to be too sure of himself] the italicised Reflexive himself can only be construed with Fred, not with John: this follows from our assumption that non-subject Reflexives must have an antecedent within their own S. Notice, however, that in a sentence such as: (114) John seems to me [_S — to have perjured himself] himself must be construed with John.