Abstract

The paper examines Case and agreement patterns in three types of Polish predicational clauses, i.e.: Type 1, featuring the copula być 'to be' with the instrumental predicate, Type 2, in which być co-occurs with the nominative predicate, and Type 3, which hosts the copula to, followed by the predicate in the nominative. In Types 1 and 2 the verb agrees with the pre-verbal element, whereas in Type 3 the post-verbal item determines agreement. In Type 1, the Case features of the subject and the predicate are valued by two distinct probes. In Types 2 and 3, multiple Agree values the nominative Case of the two DPs flanking the copula. The multiple Agree in Type 2 operates in a regular way, i.e. T probes simultaneously for person, number and gender, whereas in Type 3, T probes separately for person on the one hand and number and gender on the other. The different mode of application of multiple Agree in Types 2 and 3 follows from the fact that Type 3 is subject to the Person-Case Constraint (PCC), while no such restriction operates in Type 2. The way multiple Agree operates in Types 2 and 3 is also reflected in the distinct verbal agreement.