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Topic-Comment Structure

Topicalization for emphasis and discourse

The topic is placed first, followed by a comment

Topic = what the sentence is about; comment = what is said about it.

💬 Examples
Cái áo này, tôi không thích.
This shirt — I do not like it.
📝 cái áo này topicalized at front
Phở, anh ấy ăn mỗi ngày.
Pho — he eats it every day.
📝 phở fronted as topic
thì can mark the topic formally

TOPIC + thì + COMMENT makes the topic-comment boundary explicit.

💬 Examples
Tôi thì không biết.
As for me, I do not know.
📝 tôi thì = as for me
Tiếng Việt thì khó nhưng hay.
As for Vietnamese, it is hard but interesting.
📝 topic + thì + comment
Objects and locatives can also be topicalized

Any noun phrase can be moved to the front as a topic.

💬 Examples
Hà Nội, tôi chưa đến bao giờ.
Hanoi — I have never been there.
📝 place topicalized at front
Bài này, em đã làm xong rồi.
This exercise — I have already finished it.
📝 object bài này topicalized