The Chinese language is viewed by many as topic prominent. The topic must be a noun or noun phrase that is definite and has been mentioned in the conversation or is pre-existent in the context.
(a) When the comment is a complete sentence
Usually, the comment is a complete sentence used to elaborate on the topic.
这家饭馆， 服务很好。
Zhè jiā fàn guǎn， fú wù hěn hǎo 。
↓ ↓
Topic Comment (服务很好 is a complete sentence.)
Service at this restaurant is good.
(b) When the comment is another topic–comment structure
Sometimes, a comment itself can be a topic–comment structure. There is frequently a comma between the topic and the comment.
(Situation: Wang knew that Zhang had taken two tests yesterday, and Wang wanted to find out how Zhang had done on the tests.)
王： 昨天的考试， 你考得怎么样？
Wáng：Zuó tiān de kǎo shì，nǐ kǎo dé zěn me yàng？
Topic Comment (a complete sentence)
Wang: How did you do on yesterday’s tests?
张： (那两个考试，) 中文的，我考得不错，英文的，我考得不好。
Zhāng： (nà liǎng gè kǎo shì, ) zhōng wén de ，wǒ kǎo dé bú cuò， yīng wén de，wǒ kǎo dé bú hǎo。
Topic Comment #1 Comment #2
中文的，我考得不错，英文的，我考得不好。
Topic Comment Topic Comment
Zhang: Of the two tests, I did fi ne on the Chinese one, and I did poorly on the English one.
[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.
[2] Teng, W. H. (2016). Yufa! A practical guide to Mandarin Chinese grammar. Taylor & Francis.
