Restrictions on Long Passives in English and Brazilian Portuguese: A Phase-Based Account

To explain seemingly idiosyncratic restrictions on long passivization of causative/perception verbs in English and Brazilian Portuguese, we show that (a) passives are blocked wherever the complement a verb constitutes VoiceP/ProgP phase; (b) both TP complements VP facilitate passivization. account for these patterns, propose A-movement can only cross single phase head due to Chomsky’s (2001) (second) Phase Impenetrability Condition cannot use phase-edge escape hatches, but T’s EPP feature serves feed into matrix clause. In essence, successive-cyclic is possible where embedded T present it.