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A null subject language is a language whose grammar allows sentences that do not explicitly include a subject. (Compare this with a pro-drop language, which can leave out pronouns, including subject pronouns.)
When there is no explicit subject, the grammatical person of the subject can be understood from the verb inflection in those languages that have it. This is not always the case; for example, Chinese has no indication of person in the verb.
Sometimes, in null subject languages, although not needed, the subject may be used in order to emphasize the subject of the sentence.
Examples of null subject languages include some Romance languages (such as Spanish, Italian, Romanian, etc), Arabic, Hebrew, and several Asian languages e.g. Japanese and Tamil.
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 even in these languages it is possible to have non-standard forms of speech without explicit subjects.
- "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)
Examples
- Spanish: Te quiero (object - conjugated verb) -- the ending of the verb "-o" indicates the first person
- Non-null subject languages:
- English: I love you (subject - verb - object)
See also
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