Rhetorical relations are typically expressed by discourse structuring devices that ensure textual cohesion and coherence. Resources such as the PDTB target specifically the annotation of these devices, while describing alternative lexicalizations of such relations (AltLex). Our preparatory work to develop a discourse treebank for Portuguese in the PDTB framework has provided ground for some considerations regarding the status, in intra-sentential coherence, of main verbs that internally carry a causative meaning. We have first focused on the annotation of the rhetorical senses Reason, Result, Pragmatic_justification as expressed explicitly by discourse structuring devices (conjunctions, adverbs, phrases and prepositions), taken as elements that express a two-place semantic relation filled by propositional arguments. However, these relations are also frequently marked by other devices (AltLex).