Starting With What We Are Discussing
A topic can be followed by a comment containing its own subject: That stall, the noodles very nice. The topic sets the domain and need not be the grammatical subject of the following clause.
How It Works
A topic can set a domain while the comment has a different grammatical subject. That stall, the noodles very nice concerns the stall, but the noodles are what the adjective directly describes. Topic and subject are not always the same role.
The link between topic and comment must be understandable. My sister, her bus broke down makes the sister relevant through her bus. This pattern is not the same as merely moving an object before its verb. Use a clear relationship, and avoid making a listener invent how two unrelated noun phrases belong together.
Examples (4)
- That stall, the noodles very nice.
At that stall, the noodles are very good.
- My sister, her bus broke down.
As for my sister, her bus broke down.
- This building, the lift quite slow.
The lift in this building is quite slow.
- Our team, the new member coming tomorrow.
The new member of our team is coming tomorrow.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Understand a topic and its comment before recognizing a comment with its own distinct subject.
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Starting With What We Are Discussing in Bubblegum
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