ABSTRACT
Semantic form of subordination: sentences not syntactically subordinated in a text may be modally (and thus semantically) subordinated, if-for the purpose of their interpretation-they are assumed to be within the scope of a modal operator present in the context. Compare (a) the interpretation of a declarative sentence as a conditioned assertion following a conditional sentence (When fall comes, the days get shorter. The leaves begin to change color) and (b) the obligatory modalization of a sentence with a textual anaphor referring to a preceding modalized sentence (Robert should build a greenhouse. He could fill it with exotic plants).
