Is it appropriate to express a sentence without verb?











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Many native speakers expressing sentences without verbs while speaking,

For instance,




  • What you doing now?

  • How you doing?


Is it appropriate?










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  • 1




    No verb in this sentence.
    – user16269
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:22










  • I like the greeting What up? :D
    – Armen Ծիրունյան
    Feb 7 '12 at 12:16

















up vote
2
down vote

favorite












Many native speakers expressing sentences without verbs while speaking,

For instance,




  • What you doing now?

  • How you doing?


Is it appropriate?










share|improve this question




















  • 1




    No verb in this sentence.
    – user16269
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:22










  • I like the greeting What up? :D
    – Armen Ծիրունյան
    Feb 7 '12 at 12:16















up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











Many native speakers expressing sentences without verbs while speaking,

For instance,




  • What you doing now?

  • How you doing?


Is it appropriate?










share|improve this question















Many native speakers expressing sentences without verbs while speaking,

For instance,




  • What you doing now?

  • How you doing?


Is it appropriate?







grammar grammaticality verbs questions






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 7 mins ago









Laurel

29.4k655104




29.4k655104










asked Feb 7 '12 at 7:41









Vijin Paulraj

4825920




4825920








  • 1




    No verb in this sentence.
    – user16269
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:22










  • I like the greeting What up? :D
    – Armen Ծիրունյան
    Feb 7 '12 at 12:16
















  • 1




    No verb in this sentence.
    – user16269
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:22










  • I like the greeting What up? :D
    – Armen Ծիրունյան
    Feb 7 '12 at 12:16










1




1




No verb in this sentence.
– user16269
Feb 7 '12 at 10:22




No verb in this sentence.
– user16269
Feb 7 '12 at 10:22












I like the greeting What up? :D
– Armen Ծիրունյան
Feb 7 '12 at 12:16






I like the greeting What up? :D
– Armen Ծիրունյան
Feb 7 '12 at 12:16












2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
2
down vote













On the face of it, it is wrong and formally should be "What are you doing?" and "How are you doing?".



These can be shortened to "What're you doing?" and "How're you doing?" and then it becomes a matter of pronunciation and hearing: in some cases the 're can be almost silent and not heard, and so transcribed by the listener apparently without a verb.



There are alternatives: I imagine these may be the origin of "Whatcha" and not that far away from "Howdy", though the latter is more probably from "How do you do?".






share|improve this answer





















  • I'm sure,In many hollywood movies, they are using without verbs even in subtitles.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 15:39










  • @Vijin: Using -what- without verbs?
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 16:28










  • @Mitch,Expressing sentences without verbs.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 17:31










  • @VijinPaulraj: Oh...you used a prepositional phrase as a modifier without a thing modified (which sounds weird in English). As to sentences without verbs, look at the utterances in (and subtitles to) movies in your native language. There will be lots of them that don't have a verb. It all depends on the utterance. In English you can have a noun phrase all by itself , but it'll sounds weird to have two noun phrases (even a 'to be' (copula) is needed, unless you slur through it.)
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 18:24










  • @Mitch,You mean it's acceptable in spoken English?Of course, my native language also don't have verbs in the spoken form and the literature forms are completely difference from the spoken language.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 19:05


















up vote
2
down vote













Spoken language differs in many ways from written language. Those utterances would certainly occur in the spoken English of native speakers and to that extent they are ‘appropriate’. Incidentally, each contains a verb, even if it is a non-finite one.






share|improve this answer























  • Exactly spoken and written language lives different lives. On the other hand there are a lot of slang expressions that are OK in spoken language but you might find them only in novels in written language. Although I can't agree with your native speakers as there are a lot of people using English nowadays and they are not native. It is impossible to find someone that his bread and butter requires some computer knowledge without being able to speak English.
    – speedyGonzales
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:15











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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

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active

oldest

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active

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votes








up vote
2
down vote













On the face of it, it is wrong and formally should be "What are you doing?" and "How are you doing?".



These can be shortened to "What're you doing?" and "How're you doing?" and then it becomes a matter of pronunciation and hearing: in some cases the 're can be almost silent and not heard, and so transcribed by the listener apparently without a verb.



There are alternatives: I imagine these may be the origin of "Whatcha" and not that far away from "Howdy", though the latter is more probably from "How do you do?".






share|improve this answer





















  • I'm sure,In many hollywood movies, they are using without verbs even in subtitles.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 15:39










  • @Vijin: Using -what- without verbs?
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 16:28










  • @Mitch,Expressing sentences without verbs.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 17:31










  • @VijinPaulraj: Oh...you used a prepositional phrase as a modifier without a thing modified (which sounds weird in English). As to sentences without verbs, look at the utterances in (and subtitles to) movies in your native language. There will be lots of them that don't have a verb. It all depends on the utterance. In English you can have a noun phrase all by itself , but it'll sounds weird to have two noun phrases (even a 'to be' (copula) is needed, unless you slur through it.)
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 18:24










  • @Mitch,You mean it's acceptable in spoken English?Of course, my native language also don't have verbs in the spoken form and the literature forms are completely difference from the spoken language.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 19:05















up vote
2
down vote













On the face of it, it is wrong and formally should be "What are you doing?" and "How are you doing?".



These can be shortened to "What're you doing?" and "How're you doing?" and then it becomes a matter of pronunciation and hearing: in some cases the 're can be almost silent and not heard, and so transcribed by the listener apparently without a verb.



There are alternatives: I imagine these may be the origin of "Whatcha" and not that far away from "Howdy", though the latter is more probably from "How do you do?".






share|improve this answer





















  • I'm sure,In many hollywood movies, they are using without verbs even in subtitles.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 15:39










  • @Vijin: Using -what- without verbs?
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 16:28










  • @Mitch,Expressing sentences without verbs.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 17:31










  • @VijinPaulraj: Oh...you used a prepositional phrase as a modifier without a thing modified (which sounds weird in English). As to sentences without verbs, look at the utterances in (and subtitles to) movies in your native language. There will be lots of them that don't have a verb. It all depends on the utterance. In English you can have a noun phrase all by itself , but it'll sounds weird to have two noun phrases (even a 'to be' (copula) is needed, unless you slur through it.)
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 18:24










  • @Mitch,You mean it's acceptable in spoken English?Of course, my native language also don't have verbs in the spoken form and the literature forms are completely difference from the spoken language.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 19:05













up vote
2
down vote










up vote
2
down vote









On the face of it, it is wrong and formally should be "What are you doing?" and "How are you doing?".



These can be shortened to "What're you doing?" and "How're you doing?" and then it becomes a matter of pronunciation and hearing: in some cases the 're can be almost silent and not heard, and so transcribed by the listener apparently without a verb.



There are alternatives: I imagine these may be the origin of "Whatcha" and not that far away from "Howdy", though the latter is more probably from "How do you do?".






share|improve this answer












On the face of it, it is wrong and formally should be "What are you doing?" and "How are you doing?".



These can be shortened to "What're you doing?" and "How're you doing?" and then it becomes a matter of pronunciation and hearing: in some cases the 're can be almost silent and not heard, and so transcribed by the listener apparently without a verb.



There are alternatives: I imagine these may be the origin of "Whatcha" and not that far away from "Howdy", though the latter is more probably from "How do you do?".







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Feb 7 '12 at 8:00









Henry

17.1k34158




17.1k34158












  • I'm sure,In many hollywood movies, they are using without verbs even in subtitles.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 15:39










  • @Vijin: Using -what- without verbs?
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 16:28










  • @Mitch,Expressing sentences without verbs.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 17:31










  • @VijinPaulraj: Oh...you used a prepositional phrase as a modifier without a thing modified (which sounds weird in English). As to sentences without verbs, look at the utterances in (and subtitles to) movies in your native language. There will be lots of them that don't have a verb. It all depends on the utterance. In English you can have a noun phrase all by itself , but it'll sounds weird to have two noun phrases (even a 'to be' (copula) is needed, unless you slur through it.)
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 18:24










  • @Mitch,You mean it's acceptable in spoken English?Of course, my native language also don't have verbs in the spoken form and the literature forms are completely difference from the spoken language.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 19:05


















  • I'm sure,In many hollywood movies, they are using without verbs even in subtitles.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 15:39










  • @Vijin: Using -what- without verbs?
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 16:28










  • @Mitch,Expressing sentences without verbs.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 17:31










  • @VijinPaulraj: Oh...you used a prepositional phrase as a modifier without a thing modified (which sounds weird in English). As to sentences without verbs, look at the utterances in (and subtitles to) movies in your native language. There will be lots of them that don't have a verb. It all depends on the utterance. In English you can have a noun phrase all by itself , but it'll sounds weird to have two noun phrases (even a 'to be' (copula) is needed, unless you slur through it.)
    – Mitch
    Feb 13 '12 at 18:24










  • @Mitch,You mean it's acceptable in spoken English?Of course, my native language also don't have verbs in the spoken form and the literature forms are completely difference from the spoken language.
    – Vijin Paulraj
    Feb 13 '12 at 19:05
















I'm sure,In many hollywood movies, they are using without verbs even in subtitles.
– Vijin Paulraj
Feb 13 '12 at 15:39




I'm sure,In many hollywood movies, they are using without verbs even in subtitles.
– Vijin Paulraj
Feb 13 '12 at 15:39












@Vijin: Using -what- without verbs?
– Mitch
Feb 13 '12 at 16:28




@Vijin: Using -what- without verbs?
– Mitch
Feb 13 '12 at 16:28












@Mitch,Expressing sentences without verbs.
– Vijin Paulraj
Feb 13 '12 at 17:31




@Mitch,Expressing sentences without verbs.
– Vijin Paulraj
Feb 13 '12 at 17:31












@VijinPaulraj: Oh...you used a prepositional phrase as a modifier without a thing modified (which sounds weird in English). As to sentences without verbs, look at the utterances in (and subtitles to) movies in your native language. There will be lots of them that don't have a verb. It all depends on the utterance. In English you can have a noun phrase all by itself , but it'll sounds weird to have two noun phrases (even a 'to be' (copula) is needed, unless you slur through it.)
– Mitch
Feb 13 '12 at 18:24




@VijinPaulraj: Oh...you used a prepositional phrase as a modifier without a thing modified (which sounds weird in English). As to sentences without verbs, look at the utterances in (and subtitles to) movies in your native language. There will be lots of them that don't have a verb. It all depends on the utterance. In English you can have a noun phrase all by itself , but it'll sounds weird to have two noun phrases (even a 'to be' (copula) is needed, unless you slur through it.)
– Mitch
Feb 13 '12 at 18:24












@Mitch,You mean it's acceptable in spoken English?Of course, my native language also don't have verbs in the spoken form and the literature forms are completely difference from the spoken language.
– Vijin Paulraj
Feb 13 '12 at 19:05




@Mitch,You mean it's acceptable in spoken English?Of course, my native language also don't have verbs in the spoken form and the literature forms are completely difference from the spoken language.
– Vijin Paulraj
Feb 13 '12 at 19:05












up vote
2
down vote













Spoken language differs in many ways from written language. Those utterances would certainly occur in the spoken English of native speakers and to that extent they are ‘appropriate’. Incidentally, each contains a verb, even if it is a non-finite one.






share|improve this answer























  • Exactly spoken and written language lives different lives. On the other hand there are a lot of slang expressions that are OK in spoken language but you might find them only in novels in written language. Although I can't agree with your native speakers as there are a lot of people using English nowadays and they are not native. It is impossible to find someone that his bread and butter requires some computer knowledge without being able to speak English.
    – speedyGonzales
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:15















up vote
2
down vote













Spoken language differs in many ways from written language. Those utterances would certainly occur in the spoken English of native speakers and to that extent they are ‘appropriate’. Incidentally, each contains a verb, even if it is a non-finite one.






share|improve this answer























  • Exactly spoken and written language lives different lives. On the other hand there are a lot of slang expressions that are OK in spoken language but you might find them only in novels in written language. Although I can't agree with your native speakers as there are a lot of people using English nowadays and they are not native. It is impossible to find someone that his bread and butter requires some computer knowledge without being able to speak English.
    – speedyGonzales
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:15













up vote
2
down vote










up vote
2
down vote









Spoken language differs in many ways from written language. Those utterances would certainly occur in the spoken English of native speakers and to that extent they are ‘appropriate’. Incidentally, each contains a verb, even if it is a non-finite one.






share|improve this answer














Spoken language differs in many ways from written language. Those utterances would certainly occur in the spoken English of native speakers and to that extent they are ‘appropriate’. Incidentally, each contains a verb, even if it is a non-finite one.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Feb 7 '12 at 8:11

























answered Feb 7 '12 at 8:02









Barrie England

128k10202346




128k10202346












  • Exactly spoken and written language lives different lives. On the other hand there are a lot of slang expressions that are OK in spoken language but you might find them only in novels in written language. Although I can't agree with your native speakers as there are a lot of people using English nowadays and they are not native. It is impossible to find someone that his bread and butter requires some computer knowledge without being able to speak English.
    – speedyGonzales
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:15


















  • Exactly spoken and written language lives different lives. On the other hand there are a lot of slang expressions that are OK in spoken language but you might find them only in novels in written language. Although I can't agree with your native speakers as there are a lot of people using English nowadays and they are not native. It is impossible to find someone that his bread and butter requires some computer knowledge without being able to speak English.
    – speedyGonzales
    Feb 7 '12 at 10:15
















Exactly spoken and written language lives different lives. On the other hand there are a lot of slang expressions that are OK in spoken language but you might find them only in novels in written language. Although I can't agree with your native speakers as there are a lot of people using English nowadays and they are not native. It is impossible to find someone that his bread and butter requires some computer knowledge without being able to speak English.
– speedyGonzales
Feb 7 '12 at 10:15




Exactly spoken and written language lives different lives. On the other hand there are a lot of slang expressions that are OK in spoken language but you might find them only in novels in written language. Although I can't agree with your native speakers as there are a lot of people using English nowadays and they are not native. It is impossible to find someone that his bread and butter requires some computer knowledge without being able to speak English.
– speedyGonzales
Feb 7 '12 at 10:15


















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