The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 135
b. Kupowało się sobie prezenty.
buy.past 3 sg.n się self.dat gifts.acc
‘[One/People/We] bought oneself/themseves/ourselves gifts.’
(13) a. Czytano swoje książki.
read own.rfl.acc books.acc
‘[People/They] read their (own) books.’
b. Słuchało się swojej muzyki.
listen.past 3 sg.n się own.rfl.gen music.gen
‘[One/People/We] listened to one’s own /their own /our own music.’
2.3.3 Nominative subjects and oblique phrases
Another piece of evidence supporting the claim that Polish impersonals do in fact have
null subject DPs comes from the observation that they do not accept an overt nomina-
tive subject DP, as in (14). They do not accept an overt oblique agent, either:
(14) a. Maria czytano ciekawe książki.
Maria.nom read interesting books.acc
(Intended) ‘Maria read interesting books.’
b. Maria je się maliny.
Maria.nom eat.3sg się raspberries.acc
(Intended) ‘Maria eats raspberries.’
(15) a. / ?Kupowano samochód przez ojca.
bought car.acc by father.acc
(Intended) ‘A car was bought by my/his/her father.’
b. / ?Je się maliny przez Marysię.
eat.pres 3 sg.n się raspberries.acc by Marysia.acc
(Intended) ‘Raspberries are eaten by Marysia.’
As (15) demonstrates, the status of impersonal sentences containing oblique phrases
is somewhat unclear. The fact that these examples are to some extent acceptable is not
because agent oblique phrases are allowed. These are excluded from Polish impersonal
sentences, as the agentive meaning they are intended to express is incompatible with
impersonal predicates. The reason why the sentences in (15) are more or less acceptable
must be that the DPs in the prepositional phrases (PPs), although superficially similar
to agent oblique phrases, are not in fact true agents (Bondaruk & Charzyńska-Wójcik
2003 ). They are not instigators of the action denoted by the impersonal verbs; they
only participate in them and may express either the cause of negative circumstances,
or may be regarded as a kind of instrument. The instrumental and causative roles of
the PPs in (15a) and (15b) respectively become clear when impersonal sentences are
compared with their personal equivalents in (16).
(16) a. Kupiłam samochód przez ojca.
buy.past 1 sg car.acc by father.acc
‘I bought a car through my/his/her father.’