I wonder whether it is formal to omit the subject in writing.
Must all sentences always have a subject when I'm writing an English test?
Ìs it colloquial and reserved to speech?
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1Welcome to EL&U, by the way. You might want to visit our sister site, English Language Learners, sometime; you can find it here. It is very helpful in answering basic questions. Your question is confusing, I'm afraid. Can you say more about it, and give us an example? – anongoodnurse Dec 28 '13 at 5:31
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There's always a subject, but it may be implicit in some sentences: Try ELL. – Jim Dec 28 '13 at 5:47
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Unless the OP can explain more clearly his question, this is NOT a good fit for ELL. – Mari-Lou A Dec 28 '13 at 7:09
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Except for imperative sentences, I recommend that we non-native English speakers should always include the subject in all our sentences, both in writing and formal speaking. The omission might be possible in informal speaking and chat rooms, though. You might also want to visit the ELL site, as mentioned above. And, welcome to EL&U (and ELL too)! – Damkerng T. Dec 28 '13 at 10:52
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Don't know if it's a duplicate, really. Please edit if it isn't. – RegDwigнt♦ Dec 28 '13 at 12:26
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There are cases where the subject is implied, and doesn't actually need to be the sentence.
One such example that I found online (in this case, it is implied that the person being spoken to (you), is the subject, but never actually included or required in the sentence):
Before assembling the swingset, [you] read these instructions carefully.
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3That's an example of an imperative, which normally doesn't take a subject. – aeismail Dec 28 '13 at 9:58
