The EPP and subject extraction

•That-t effects are explained with the EPP under Chomsky's (2008) probe-goal system.•The EPP should incorporate a condition required by the PF interface.•Fox and Pesetsky's (2005) mechanism of linear ordering plays an essential role.•Suspension of that-t effects occurs when the EPP is satisfied by some other element.

This article aims to account for that-t effects in terms of the EPP requirement under Chomsky's (2008) probe-goal system, thereby supporting the position that the EPP should incorporate a condition imposed by the PF interface to the effect that it must be satisfied by overt material. The account makes crucial use of the mechanism of parallel operations proposed by Chomsky (2008) that take place in the C-T domain. Further, Fox and Pesetsky's (2005) mechanism of linear ordering plays an essential role in this account. Under these mechanisms, it is further demonstrated that suspension of that-t effects occurs when the EPP is satisfied not by a wh-subject moving out of a that-clause complement but rather by other materials such as expletives, adverbs and rich morphology on T.