Omission is universal in language,but different languages may employ the device in different ways.Thisstudy compares the absence of subject in Mandarin Chinese and Modern Standard English to figure out the shared featuresand differences of zero subjects in both languages,analyses Chinese-specific subjectless phenomena for its causes andunderlying guiding principles,and explains the implication of the study in language teaching and translation. Omission is universal in language, but in different languages ​​may employ the device in different ways. This study compares the absence of subject in Mandarin Chinese and Modern Standard English to figure out the shared features and differences of zero subjects in both languages, analyzes Chinese-specific subjectless phenomena for its causes and underlying guiding principles, and explains the implication of the study in language teaching and translation.