Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of Transitive Expletive Constructions (TECs) within the framework of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky (1995)). In particular, my concern goes to the following two issues. The first one is why English does not allow TECs unless the subjects undergo Heavy NP Shift. The second one is why TECs with a non-postposed subject are acceptable in languages like Icelandic, but not in English. I will provide a unified account of these phenomena by arguing that overt subject movement out of vP is essential for convergence of TECs.
