[General] Omitting subject

[Creamcake]

Hi friends,

I would like to ask you about omitting subject. We can easily see that in formal documents, contracts or lists, the subjects are usually scrapped out. This is, to me, not actually the imperative mood. Since I need to translate those documents to English, I have some questions that need to answer:

- When I omit the subject, what should I do with to be or auxiliary verbs?
- What does the main verb become? Present participle/gerund, to-infinitive or bare infinitive?
- If there is negative, what should I do?
- Tense of verb

I find this kind of writing fairly common on news headline (newspapers, magazines) or short news running through the TV screen at the bottom line. It's like some sort of style, but I cannot find out what it is and so I am not able to translate my documents.

Please, enlighten me on this. Thank you!

 

[Creamcake]

Yes, this is just what I am looking for. But the point is I don't know which part to omit, which part not to.

And in another example, I am trying to translate a contract and encountering an Article about responsibilities of a Party. I think repeatedly writing "Party B shall (not)" at the beginning of every terms is unnecessary, and somewhat silly if we are to write a formal document, just like in the headline of newspaper you provided.

Therefore I am really eager to hear more about this "style" because I have been searching for it for long but find few or no answer. Thanks!

 

[Creamcake]

Ok, thank for your help!

 

[Matthew Wai]

Creamcake, clicking on the 'Thank' button can obviate the need for a new post saying 'Thanks'; such is one of the many unwritten rules on this forum.

 

[Barb_D]

Hi friends,

the subjects are usually crapped out.

I don't know what you think this means, but it doesn't mean whatever you think it means.

 

[BobK]

I guess it might be supposed to mean 'left out'. If Creamcake has a background in graphics it might even be a mistaken version of 'cropped'. ... ;-)

b

 

[Barb_D]

That's a generous interpretation

 

[Creamcake]

I don't know what you think this means, but it doesn't mean whatever you think it means.

Fixed! I missed the letter "s". So sorry

 

[Creamcake]

Hi guys, it's me again. I have found this one on the Internet. It is a sample of a contract.

http://vndoc.com/hop-dong-thue-nha-bang-tieng-anh-contract-of-house-renting/download

If you look at the Article 3 (responsibilities of each Party), you will find out that the remove the subject to avoid redundancy. So in this case I just want to ask how exactly should I do it (what to remove, what to keep, what to change).

Thanks again.

 

[Rover_KE]

Fixed! I missed the letter "s". So sorry

'Scrapped out' is no better.

Perhaps you mean erased or deleted.

 

[Creamcake]

'Scrapped out' is no better.

Perhaps you mean erased or deleted.

Ok, I will keep in mind about it. So what about the contract. Do you have any ideas?

 

[Barb_D]

I'm sorry, but I will never give advice on how legal writing should read.
If you wanted to write normal business correspondence, a letter, and essay, a short story... sure. I can help.
But legal writing and contracts require a lawyer.

I would be surprised if any of my fellow moderators felt comfortable giving you legal advice, which is what "how to write a contract in English" is.

 

[Rover_KE]

Piscean has already given the best advice: leave nothing out.

 

[BobK]

:up: Good advice - especially the last clause!

b