Topic-comment sentences
In a topic-comment sentence, the usual word order is rearranged a bit in order to emphasize a certain part of a sentence. The part that is to be emphasized becomes the topic, and moves to the beginning of the sentence, with the comment on the topic coming after the topic has been stated.
Here are some example sentences to make this pattern a bit clearer:
- 这 台 电视 ，价格 不太 贵。
- 上海 的 夏天 ，我 听说 每天 下 雨，也 很 潮湿。
- 日语 ，我 怎么 说 也 说 得 不 好。
Sources and further reading
Books
- Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 260) →buy
- Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 83-4) →buy
- Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 353-4) →buy
