Fig 2. Event-related potentials (ERPs) at the end of a sentence in German.

Before the final verb form (‘has’ vs. ‘have’) has entered the parsing system, the initial noun phrase argument (‘Bertram’) can be understood either as an agent (A) or as a patient (P). When the final verb form disambiguates the initial noun phrase towards a P reading (literally, ‘that the surfers have congratulated Bertram’), this triggers a biphasic N400—late positivity (LPS) pattern (blue trace). No pattern is observed when the final verb form disambiguates towards an A reading (‘that Bertram has congratulated the surfers’). This suggests that an A reading is the working assumption of the system right from the start [16], in line with the hypothesis of the S/A preference discussed in the main text. Note: Negativity is plotted upwards.