Spanish prometer 'promise', permitir 'permit' and obligar 'oblige' are considered modal verbs. In their deontic senses they behave syntactically as control verbs. This property is maintained in non-deontic permitir and obligar, but not in nondeontic prometer, which shows some features of a raising verb. Non-deontic permitir and obligar are causatives of alethic modalities ('x makes it possible/necessary for y to F(y,...)'), while non-deontic prometer is epistemic ('it is highly likely thatFfx,...)'). Nondeontic senses of the three verbs have in common the non-intentionality of the participant referred to by the subject in the main clause.

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