When is it ok to not have a subject in a sentence?

In writing, is it ever ok to not have a subject as a part of your sentence? Well, believe it or not, the answer is "yes" and "no." It will depend on your sentence & what you're trying to say. Let's look at some examples.

If you're telling someone to do something, you may use statements like you see below.

"Go to the store."
"Take the trash outside."
"Please call me back."

Even though you don't see a subject written in those sentences, it's understood to be the word "you."

If, however, you're not telling someone to do something (or making a command), and you're just making a statement telling about something, then you do need to have a subject included (even if it's the word "you"). Let's see some examples of what you wouldn't want to write and then the correct way to write it.

Incorrect way: "Went to the mall."
Why is it incorrect? Who went to the mall? Was it me? Was it you? Was it Linda?
Correct way: She went to the mall.

Incorrect way: "Is ready for exercise."
Why is it incorrect? Who is ready for exercise? Is it me? Is it you? Is it President Obama?
Correct way: The hospital patient is ready for exercise.

Incorrect way: "Cooked a delicious meal."
Why is it incorrect? Who cooked that meal? Was it me? Was it you? Was it a chef?
Correct way: The culinary instructor cooked a delicious meal.


Are you ready to give this a try? Write two sentences. One should be a direction (or a command) where you're using the "understood you" as the subject. The next sentence should be a simple sentence that clearly has a subject & a verb.

I'll start!

1.) Attend the online workshops this week.
2.) Everyone should attend the online workshops this week.