Null Subjects in Non-null-subject Languages
Other languages (sometimes called non-null-subject languages) require each sentence to include a subject: this is the case for most Germanic languages, such as English and German, but also in French (unlike most other Romance language), and many others. In some cases, colloquial expressions, particularly in English, less so in German, and occasionally in French, allow for the omission of the subject in the same way that languages such as Spanish and Russian allow using "correct" grammar:
- "Bumped into George this morning." (I)
- "Agreed to have a snifter to catch up on old times." (We)
- "Told me what the two of you had been up to." (He)
- "Went down to Brighton for the weekend?" (You)
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Famous quotes containing the words null, subjects and/or languages:
“A strong person makes the law and custom null before his own will.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Conversation ... is like the table of contents of a dull book.... All the greatest subjects of human thought are proudly displayed in it. Listen to it for three minutes, and you ask yourself which is more striking, the emphasis of the speaker or his shocking ignorance.”
—Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)
“The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.”
—Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)