Marking a topic with "de hua"

You probably already know that 的话 (de huà) can be put at the end of a phrase to express the meaning of "if." It can be used independently, or with 如果, both meaning "if." But it can also be used to simply identify a topic, sort of like saying "when it comes to...."

Structure

的话 can also be used to introduce a topic which the speaker intends to say more about.

Topic + 的话 ，Comment

Examples

• 北京 的话，秋天 去 最好 。Běijīng de huà, qiūtiān qù zuì hǎo.As for Beijing, autumn is the best time to go.
• 晚上 的话，当然 方便 啦 。Wǎnshàng de huà, dāngrán fāngbiàn la.The evening? Of course that's convenient.
• 这个 问题 的话，我 不 太 方便 说 。Zhè ge wèntí de huà, wǒ bù tài fāngbiàn shuō.As for this question, it's not convenient for me to talk about it.
• 我 肯定 能 去 。 他 的话 ，我 就 不知道 了。Wǒ kěndìng néng qù. Tā de huà, wǒ jiù bù zhīdào le.I can definitely go. As for him though, I don't know.
• 我们 的 要求 比较 高 。具体 来说 的话 ，有 三 个 方面 。Wǒmen de yāoqiú bǐjiào gāo. Jùtǐ lái shuō de huà, yǒu sān gè fāngmiàn.Our requirement is quite high. Specifically, there are three aspects.

See also

• "If…, then…" with "ruguo…, jiu…"
• Marking a topic with "ma"
• Topic-comment sentences

Sources and further reading

Websties

• Chinesegrammar.info: Chinese grammar de hua (的话): expressing “if” in Chinese with de hua

HSK5