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In informal English i see people to say and text

1: you married?

2: he told to not come

3: you done?

4: the paragraph written in informal English

So on

How the sentences make sense without any help of auxiliary verb?

It's OK to write the way informally?

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  • He told to not come is not something I would expect to hear from any native English speaker. We simply don't omit the object of tell, even in informal speech, and even when it is obvious. Also He told me not to come is much more common than He told me to not come in my experience.
    – Colin Fine
    Feb 13, 2020 at 22:47

1 Answer 1

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Yes, this tends to be more common in informal English and all this makes perfect sense. Verbs (it doesn't have to be just auxiliary verbs) that come at the beginning of a sentence are often left out in spoken English (or in situations where spoken English is being imitated such as chatting over an instant messaging app) for the sake of brevity. One reason this is possible is because from the context it's still quite clear what you are saying (no essential information is lost, in other words):

(Are) you married?

(Are) you done?

In the last example (the paragraph written in informal English), written is something called a past participle. When past participles are used like that, you can always paraphrase the sentence by inserting that is or that are between the noun and the past participle:

the paragraph that is written in informal English

This is normal for past participles. It has nothing to do with the level of formality you're speaking with.

I'm not sure about example #2. Where is there supposed to be an auxiliary verb that has been left out of the sentence?

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  • i have seen many places, in formal writing as well that [that is] is omitted to make clause and phrases shorten, as like The board [that/which is] docked at the Port Feb 13, 2020 at 20:12
  • And I'm talking about informal writing Feb 13, 2020 at 20:13
  • "written is something called a past participle", i think your answer require [that is] in between something and called just like "written is something [that is] called a past participle" Feb 13, 2020 at 20:19
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    Yes, you can do that, but that's not a requirement: "written" is something that is called and "written" is something called are absolutely equivalent phrasings. The latter one is just a shorter way to say it. Feb 13, 2020 at 20:21
  • Thank you, that means "the paragraph written in informal English" is also acceptable? Feb 13, 2020 at 20:25

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