Le Complément D'agent Introduit Par la Préposition de

The purpose of this study is to draw attention on a syntactic function somewhat neglected till now in literature: the agent introduced by de in French. A reconsideration of the data led us to a new classification of the verbs admitting such an agent. Some other points (such as the status of this complement with the verbs accepting both direct and prepositional objects, or the affinity of the preposition with undeterminated objects) have been discussed, leading to conclusions different from those generally accepted in grammars and textbooks.