The word topic used in a sentence - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

Examples of how to use the word “topic” in a sentence. How to connect “topic” with other words to make correct English sentences.

topic (n): a subject that is discussed, written about, or studied

Use “topic” in a sentence

That’s not my favorite topic.

The main topic of conversation was his new girlfriend.

The article covered a wide range of topics.

That comment is completely off topic.

We talked about a variety of topics.

We discussed a wide range of topics.

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Definition of Topic

the subject or theme of a conversation, book, piece of art, etc

Examples of Topic in a sentence

Recipes are a usual topic of conversation between the friends since they both like to cook.

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The blog writer pens articles on many different subjects, but pet care is her favorite topic.

🔊

Because the artist couldn’t think of a topic for his newest sculpture, he painted an abstract piece with no theme.

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What is a Subject?

The word subject is a noun which is used in the sense of ‘niche’ or ‘branch of knowledge.’ Observe the two sentences given below:

She knew the subject very well.

He could write on any subject.

In both the sentences, you can find that the word subject is used in the sense of ‘branch of knowledge’ or ‘niche’ and hence, the meaning of the first sentence would be ‘she knew the branch of knowledge very well’. In the same way, the meaning of the second sentence would be ‘he could write on any niche’. A subject refers to a vast area of a branch of study. A topic is only a part of it. Also, apart from being used as a noun, subject is also used as an adjective, verb and an adverb.

What is a Topic?

The word topic is also a noun like the word subject. However, the word topic is used in the sense of ‘title’ or ‘the aspect chosen in the subject.’ Keeping that in mind, observe the two sentences given below:

She could not understand the topic spoken by the speaker.

What was your topic for research?

In both the sentences, you can find that the word ‘topic’ is used in the sense of ‘title’ or ‘the aspect chosen in the subject’ and hence, the meaning of the first sentence would be ‘she could not understand the aspect chosen in the subject spoken by the speaker’. The meaning of the second sentence would be ‘what was the aspect of the subject chosen for research?’

While a subject refers to a vast area of a branch of study, a topic normally concentrates on a particular area of a given subject.

What is the difference between Subject and Topic?

• The word subject is usually used in the sense of ‘niche’ or ‘branch of knowledge’.

• On the other hand, the word topic is used in the sense of ‘title’ or ‘the aspect chosen in the subject’.

• Due to this, one can say that the word topic is the subset of the word subject.

• A topic normally concentrates on a particular area of a given subject.

• On the other hand, a subject refers to a vast area of a branch of study.

These are the differences between subject and topic.

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This article is about the topic of a sentence. For the topic of a discourse, see Discourse topic. For theme (also called topic) in generative grammar, see Theta role. For theme in semantics, see Thematic relation.

In linguistics, the topic, or theme, of a sentence is what is being talked about, and the comment (rheme or focus) is what is being said about the topic. This division into old vs. new content is called information structure. It is generally agreed that clauses are divided into topic vs. comment, but in certain cases the boundary between them depends on which specific grammatical theory is being used to analyze the sentence.

Topic, which is defined by pragmatic considerations, is a distinct concept from grammatical subject, which is defined by syntax. In any given sentence these may be the same, but they need not be. For example, in the sentence «As for the little girl, the dog bit her», the subject is «the dog» but the topic is «the little girl».

Topic and subject are also distinct concepts from agent (or actor)—the «doer», which is defined by semantics. In English clauses with a verb in the passive voice, for instance, the topic is typically the subject, while the agent may be omitted or may follow the preposition by. For example, in the sentence «The little girl was bitten by the dog», «the little girl» is the subject and the topic, but «the dog» is the agent.

In some languages, word order and other syntactic phenomena are determined largely by the topic–comment (theme–rheme) structure. These languages are sometimes referred to as topic-prominent languages. Korean and Japanese are often given as examples of this.

Definitions and examplesEdit

The sentence- or clause-level «topic», or «theme», can be defined in a number of different ways. Among the most common are

the phrase in a clause that the rest of the clause is understood to be about,
a special position in a clause (often at the right or left-edge of the clause) where topics typically appear.

In an ordinary English clause, the subject is normally the same as the topic/theme (example 1), even in the passive voice (where the subject is a patient, not an agent: example 2):

The dog bit the little girl.
The little girl was bitten by the dog.

These clauses have different topics: the first is about the dog, and the second about the little girl.

In English it is also possible to use other sentence structures to show the topic of the sentence, as in the following:

As for the little girl, the dog bit her.
It was the little girl that the dog bit.

The case of expletives is sometimes rather complex. Consider sentences with expletives (meaningless subjects), like:

It is raining.
There is some room in this house.
There are two days in the year in which the day and the night are equal in length.

In these examples the syntactic subject position (to the left of the verb) is manned by the meaningless expletive («it» or «there»), whose sole purpose is satisfying the extended projection principle, and is nevertheless necessary. In these sentences the topic is never the subject, but is determined pragmatically. In all these cases, the whole sentence refers to the comment part.^[1]

The relation between topic/theme and comment/rheme/focus should not be confused with the topic-comment relation in Rhetorical Structure Theory-Discourse Treebank (RST-DT corpus) where it is defined as «a general statement or topic of discussion is introduced, after which a specific remark is made on the statement or topic». For example: «[As far as the pound goes,] [some traders say a slide toward support at 1.5500 may be a favorable development for the dollar this week.]»^[2]^[3]

Edit

Different languages mark topics in different ways. Distinct intonation and word-order are the most common means. The tendency to place topicalized constituents sentence-initially («topic fronting») is widespread. Topic fronting refers to placing the topic at the beginning
of a clause regardless whether it is marked or not.^[4] Again, linguists disagree on many details.

Languages often show different kinds of grammar for sentences that introduce new topics and those that continue discussing previously established topics.

When a sentence continues discussing a previously established topic, it is likely to use pronouns to refer to the topic. Such topics tend to be subjects. In many languages, pronouns referring to previously established topics will show pro-drop.

In EnglishEdit

In English the topic/theme comes first in the clause, and is typically marked out by intonation as well.^[5]

English is quite capable of using a topic-prominent formulation instead of a subject-prominent formulation when context makes it desirable for one reason or another. A typical pattern for doing so is opening with a class of prepositions such as as for, as regards, regarding, concerning, respecting, on, re, and others. Pedagogically or expositorily this approach has value especially when the speaker knows that they need to lead the listener’s attention from one topic to another in a deftly efficient manner, sometimes actively avoiding misplacement of the focus of attention from moment to moment. But whereas topic-prominent languages might use this approach by default or obligately, in subject-prominent ones such as English it is merely an option that often is not invoked.

In other languagesEdit

In Japanese and Korean, the topic is normally marked with a postposition like -wa (は) or 는/은, -(n)eun.
In Côte d’Ivoire French, the topic is marked by the postposition « là ». The topic can be but is not necessarily a noun or a nominal group: « Voiture-là est jolie deh » ; « Aujourd’hui-là il fait chaud » ; « Pour toi-là n’est pas comme pour moi hein » ; « Nous qui sommes ici-là, on attend ça seulement ».
So-called free-word order languages like Russian, Czech and to some certain extent Chinese and German use word order as the primary means, and the topic usually precedes the focus. For example, in some Slavic languages like Czech and Russian, both orders are possible. The order with comment sentence-initial is referred as subjective (Vilém Mathesius invented the term and opposed it to objective) and expresses certain emotional involvement. The two orders are distinguished by intonation.
In Modern Hebrew, a topic may follow its comment. For example, the syntactic subject of this sentence is an expletive זה («ze», lit. «this»):

«This book is very interesting.»

In American Sign Language, a topic can be declared at the beginning of a sentence (indicated by raised eyebrows and head tilt) describing the object, and the rest of the sentence describes what happens to that object.

Practical applicationsEdit

The main application of the topic-comment structure is in the domain of speech technology, especially the design of embodied conversational agents (intonational focus assignment, relation between information structure and posture and gesture).^[6] There were some attempts to apply the theory of topic/comment for information retrieval^[7] and automatic summarization.^[8]

HistoryEdit

The distinction between subject and topic was probably first suggested by Henri Weil in 1844.^[9] He established the
connection between information structure and word order. Georg von der Gabelentz distinguished psychological subject (roughly topic) and psychological object (roughly focus). In the Prague school, the dichotomy, termed topic–focus articulation, has been studied mainly by Vilém Mathesius,^[10] Jan Firbas, František Daneš, Petr Sgall and Eva Hajičová. They have been concerned mainly by its relation to intonation and word-order. Mathesius also pointed out that the topic does not provide new information but connects the sentence to the context. The work of Michael Halliday in the 1960s is responsible for developing linguistic science through his systemic functional linguistics model for English.^[11]

ReferencesEdit

^ Michael Gotze, Stephanie Dipper, and Stavros Skopeteas. 2007. Information Structure in Cross-Linguistic Corpora: Annotation Guidelines for Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, and Information Structure. Interdisciplinary Studies on Information Structure (ISIS), Working papers of the SFB 632, Vol. 7.
^ L. Carlson and D. Marcu, “Discourse tagging reference manual,” ISI Technical Report ISI-TR-545, vol. 54, 2001.
^ L. Ermakova and J. Mothe. 2016. Document re-ranking based on topic-comment structure. In X IEEE International Conference RCIS, Grenoble, France, June 1–3, 2016. 1–10.
^ D. Bring, Topic and Comment. Cambridge University Press, 2011, three
entries for: Patrick Colm Hogan (ed.) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of
the Language Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^ MAK Halliday (1994). An introduction to functional grammar, 2nd ed., Hodder Arnold: London, p. 37
^ Cassell, Justine, ed. Embodied conversational agents. MIT press, 2000.
^ A. Bouchachia and R. Mittermeir, “A neural cascade architecture for
document retrieval,” in Neural Networks, 2003. Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on, vol. 3. IEEE, 2003, pp. 1915–1920.
^ L. Ermakova, J. Mothe, A. Firsov. A Metric for Sentence Ordering Assessment Based on Topic-Comment
Structure, in ACM SIGIR, Tokyo, Japan, 07/08/2017-11/08/2017
^ H. Weil, De l’ordre des mots dans les langues anciennes compares aux
langues modernes: question de grammaire gnrale. Joubert, 1844.
^ V. Mathesius and J. Vachek, A Functional Analysis of Present Day
English on a General Linguistic Basis, ser. Janua linguarum : Series
practica / Ianua linguarum / Series practica. Mouton, 1975.
^ M.A.K.Halliday, An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 2nd ed.
London: Arnold, 1994.

External linksEdit

SFG page: theme – an explanation, for beginners, of theme in systemic functional grammar by Alvin Leong
Iliev, Iv. The Russian Genitive of Negation and Its Japanese Counterpart. International Journal of Russian Studies. 1, 2018

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On this page you’ll find 43 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to topic, such as: affair, argument, business, case, field, and issue.

TRY USING topic

See how your sentence looks with different synonyms.

How to use topic in a sentence

SYNONYM OF THE DAY

OCTOBER 26, 1985

WORDS RELATED TO TOPIC

assignment
avocation
calling
case
circumstance
concern
duty
employment
episode
event
hap
happening
incident
interest
job
mission
obligation
occupation
occurrence
office function
proceeding
profession
project
province
pursuit
question
realm
responsibility
subject
task
thing
topic
transaction
undertaking

affair
assignment
beeswax
carrying-on
duty
function
goings-on
hanky-panky
happening
interest
issue
lookout
matter
palaver
point
problem
question
responsibility
subject
task
topic

Mom and pops
cartels
concerns
corporations
establishments
factories
firms
fly-by-night operations
houses
institutions
markets
megacorps
mills
monopolies
organizations
outfits
partnerships
setups
shoestring operations
shops
stores
syndicates
trusts
ventures

affiliate
branch
clause
division
episode
member
offshoot
part
period
phase
stage
topic
unit
wing

basis
bearing
bottom line
burden
core
drift
force
heart
idea
import
kernel
keynote
marrow
matter
meat
name of the game
nature of the beast
nitty gritty
nuts and bolts
pith
point
punch line
quintessence
score
sense
short
significance
soul
spirit
stuff
subject
substance
summary
tenor
theme
thrust
topic
upshot

affair
argument
concern
contention
controversy
matter
matter of contention
point
point of departure
problem
puzzle
question
subject
topic

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Top Definitions
Quiz
More About Topic Sentence
Examples
British
Cultural

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

or topical sentence

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

noun

a sentence that expresses the essential idea of a paragraph or larger section, usually appearing at the beginning.

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Which sentence is correct?

Origin of topic sentence

First recorded in 1915–20

Words nearby topic sentence

topic, topical, topicality, topicalize, topically, topic sentence, to pieces, topkhana, top kick, top kill, topknot

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

What is a topic sentence?

A topic sentence, or topical sentence, is a sentence that introduces the essential point or idea of a paragraph or larger section. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence of a paragraph.

A good topic sentence introduces the specific idea of the paragraph and gives an overview of the topic. The rest of the sentences will expand on the main idea in the paragraph, giving more details about the topic.

Let’s say you write a topic sentence that reads In my opinion, dogs make the best pets. You’ve given your reader the main point of your paragraph. The rest of the sentences should tell the reader the reasons you think dogs are the best pets. The topic sentence is specific enough that you’ll know what the rest of the sentences should cover.

By contrast, here is an example of a paragraph with a poor topic sentence.

Basketball is fun. Societies have used sports as a form of entertainment for thousands of years, going back to the ancient Greeks. Athletes have been held in high regard by many different cultures and are often admired for their exemplary physical prowess.

This topic sentence tells us the writer’s opinion on basketball. The rest of the paragraph gives us more details about basketball but not why the writer thinks it’s fun. A better topic sentence would be something like Sports have been popular in many different civilizations throughout history.

Why is topic sentence important?

The first records of the phrase topic sentence come from around 1915. It combines the word topic, which is a subject of conversation or discussion, and the word sentence, a group of words that are used to express an idea or concept. The purpose of a topic sentence is to introduce the reader to the topic of the paragraph.

Topic sentences are used in most forms of writing. They help guide a reader through a long article or other work of writing, making it easier to read.

Usually, a topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph but it doesn’t have to be. It can appear at the end of the paragraph when you want to build suspense or you want to make a controversial point and you need to share the details of it first. You could also put the topic sentence in the middle, where it can transition between one set of details and another, though this is very rare.

Did you know … ?

Narrative, one of the most common pieces of writing, doesn’t always use topic sentences. That’s because a narrative often tells a story in chronological order, so the first sentence of a paragraph may be simply the action that happened first.

What are real-life examples of topic sentence?

This image shows an essay outline and where topic sentences go in the essay:

Students are often unenthusiastic when learning about topic sentences in English class.

Day 4 of homeschooling and kid wrote an original composition titled «my brother is soooo annoying» but added topic sentence, supporting details, and conclusion as requested so imma call it a win.

— Lindsey Passenger Wieck (@LWieck) August 21, 2021

Quiz yourself!

True or False?

A topic sentence gives the reader all the details about the topic they’re reading about.

How to use topic sentence in a sentence

Frame a sentence which you think would be an adequate topic sentence for the whole piece.
In this paragraph every sentence is a repetition of some part of the opening or topic sentence, and serves to explain it.
Is his last sentence, in case it is a repetition of the topic, longer or shorter than the topic sentence?
In these cases the topic-sentence follows the transition, and it may come as late as the middle of the paragraph.

Below are four paragraphs, from different forms of discourse, all having the topic-sentence at the beginning.

British Dictionary definitions for topic sentence

noun

a sentence in a paragraph that expresses the main idea or point of the whole paragraph

Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for topic sentence

The main sentence in a paragraph, often the first sentence. It briefly conveys the essential idea of the paragraph.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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What is it?
Что это?

Параграф (абзац) представляет собой группу связанных предложений, в которых обсуждается одна (и обычно только одна) основная идея. Параграф может состоять минимум из 1 предложения, максимум, в свою очередь, не ограничен, однако он должен быть достаточно длинным, чтобы четко сформулировать основную идею.

Все параграфы содержат вводное и вспомогательные предложения, а в некоторых абзацах также содержится заключительное предложение.

A paragraph is a group of related sentences that discuss one (and usually only one) main idea. A paragraph can be as short as one sentence or as long as ten sentences.

The number of sentences is unimportant; however, the paragraph should be long enough to develop the main idea clearly.

All paragraphs have a topic sentence and supporting sentences, and some paragraphs also have a concluding sentence.

What does it consist of?
Из чего состоит?

Topic sentence
Вводное предложение

Вводное предложение содержит основную идею параграфа. Однако оно не только обозначает его общую тему, но и ее конкретную специфическую область этой темы – контрольную идею.

Обратите внимание на пример ниже: “золото” – это тема, “две важные характеристики” – контрольная идея, т.е. второе вытекает из первого.

The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. It not only names the topic of the paragraph, but it also limits the topic to one specific area that can be discussed completely in the space of a single paragraph. The part of the topic sentence that announces the specific area to be discussed is called the controlling idea.

Notice how the topic sentence of the model states both the topic and the controlling idea:

Три вещи характеризуют вводное предложение:

Вводное предложение – это полное предложение: оно содержит хотя бы одно существительное и сказуемое. Также оно почти всегда стоит в начале параграфа.

Вводное предложение содержит как тему, так и контрольную идею. Он называет тему, а затем ограничивает тему определенной областью, которая будет обсуждаться в параграфе.

Как видите, topic sentences часто представляют список из нескольких пунктов. Например, если вам в параграфе нужно перечислить несколько причин, заявите об этом в topic sentence.

Например: There are several reasons for immigrating to Finland, namely the widespread use of English, social benefits, and the friendly character of its people. Сразу ясно, о чем и в каком порядке писать в этом параграфе.

Вводное предложение – наиболее общее в параграфе, поскольку оно дает только основную идею и никаких конкретных подробностей.

Вводное предложение – это как название конкретного блюда в меню. Когда вы заказываете еду в ресторане, вы хотите узнать больше о конкретном блюде, и вам будет недостаточно таких названий как просто «мясо», «суп» или «салат». Вам нужно знать, что это конкретно за салат: может, картофельный салат, овощной или фруктовый? Вам не настолько интересны конкретные ингредиенты, насколько общая информация о блюде.

Вот пример отличного вводного предложения:

Арабское происхождение многих английских слов не всегда очевидно.

А вот следующее предложение является слишком конкретным. Ему больше подойдет роль поддерживающего предложения, а не вводного:

Сленговое выражение so long («До свидания»), вероятно, является искажением арабского слова “Салама”.

А это предложение, напротив, является слишком общим, чтобы быть вводным:

На английский язык оказали влияние многие другие языки.

Вводное предложение должно иметь логичные и взаимосвязанные контрольные идеи, которые ограничивают тему определенной областью, например:

Инди-фильмы характеризуются экспериментальными методами, низкими издержками производства и провокационными темами. – здесь слишком много контрольных идей, тема абзаца будет неясна

Независимые фильмы характеризуются экспериментальными методами. – хорошее вводное предложение

Here are three important points to remember about a topic sentence:

A topic sentence is a complete sentence: it contains at least one subject and one verb. It is most commonly placed at the beginning of a paragraph.
A topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea. It names the topic and then limits the topic to a specific area to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph.

As you may have noted, topic sentences are quite often used when a certain list consisting of several points (reasons, etc.) needs to be presented.

For example,

There are several reasons for immigrating to Finland, namely the widespread use of English, social benefits, and the friendly character of its people.

This topic sentence makes it clear what will be discussed in the paragraph and in what order.

A topic sentence is the most general statement in the paragraph because it gives only the main idea. It does not give any specific details.

A topic sentence is like the name of a particular course on a restaurant menu. When you order food in a restaurant, you want to know more about a particular course than just “meat” or “soup” or “salad.” You want to know generally what kind of salad it is. Potato salad? Mixed green salad? Fruit salad? However, you do not necessarily want to know all the ingredients. Similarly, a reader wants to know generally what to expect in a paragraph, but he or she does not want to learn all the details in the first sentence.

This is a general statement that could serve as a topic sentence:

The Arabic origin of many English words is not always obvious.

The following sentence, on the other hand, is too specific. It could serve as a supporting sentence but not as a topic sentence:

The slang expression so long (meaning “goodbye”) is probably the corruption of the Arabic salaam.

This sentence is too general to be the topic one:

English has been influenced by other languages.

A topic sentence should not have unrelated controlling ideas, which limits or controls the topic to a specific area that you can discuss in the space of a single paragraph.

e.g. Indie films are characterized by experimental techniques, low production costs, and provocative themes. – too many controlling ideas

Independent films are characterized by experimental techniques. – good topic sentence

Практика /
Practice

Task 1. Read the sentences in each group, and decide which sentence is the best topic sentence. Write best TS (for “best topic sentence“) on the line next to it. Decide what is wrong with the other sentences. They may be too general, or they may be too specific, or they may be incomplete sentences. Write too general, too specific, or incomplete on the lines next to them.

The first one has been done for you as an example.

Group 1
_too specific____ a. A lunar eclipse is an omen of a coming disaster.
_too general____ b. Superstitions have been around forever.
_best topic sent._ c. People hold many superstitious beliefs about the moon.
_incomplete____ d. Is made of green cheese.

Group 2
a. The history of astronomy is interesting.
b. Ice age people recorded the appearance of new moons by making scratches in animal bones.
c. For example, Stonehenge in Britain, built 3500 years ago to track the movement of the sun.
d. Ancient people observed and recorded lunar and solar events in different ways.

Group 3
a. It is hard to know which foods are safe to eat nowadays.
b. In some large ocean fish, there are high levels of mercury.
c. Undercooked chicken and hamburger may carry E. coli bacteria.
d. Not to mention mad cow disease.
e. Food safety is an important issue.

Group 4
a. Hybrid automobiles more economical to operate than gasoline-powered cars.
b. The new hybrid automobiles are very popular.
c. Hybrid cars have good fuel economy because a computer under the hood decides to run the electric motor, the small gasoline engine, or the two together.
d. The new hybrid automobiles are popular because of their fuel economy.

Group 5
a. The North American Catawba Indians of the Southeast and the Tlingit of the Northwest both see the rainbow as a kind of bridge between heaven and earth.
b. A rainbow seen from an airplane is a complete circle.
c. Many cultures interpret rainbows in positive ways.
d. Rainbows are beautiful.
e. The belief that you can find a pot of gold at a rainbow’s end.

Group 2
a. too general
b. too specific
c. incomplete
d. best topic sentence

Group 3
a. best topic sentence
b. too specific
c. too specific
d. incomplete
e. too general

Group 4
a. incomplete
b. too general
c. too specific
d. best topic sentence

Group 5
a. too specific
b. too general
c. best topic sentence
d. too general
e. incomplete

Task 2. Write good topic sentences for the following paragraphs. Remember to include both a topic and a controlling idea.

Paragraph 1
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________. English speakers relaxing at home, for example, may put on kimonos, which is a Japanese word. English speakers who live in a warm climate may take an afternoon siesta on an outdoor patio without realizing that these are Spanish words. In their gardens, they may enjoy the fragrance of jasmine flowers, a word that came into English from Persian. They may even relax on a chaise while snacking on yogurt, words of French and Turkish origin, respectively. At night, they may shampoo their hair and put on pajamas, words from the Hindi language of India.

Paragraph 2
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________. In European universities, students are not required to attend classes. In fact, professors in Germany generally do not know the names of the students enrolled in their courses. In the United States, however, students are required to attend
all classes and may be penalized if they do not. Furthermore, in the European system, students usually take just one comprehensive examination at the end of their entire four or five years of study. In the North American system, on the other hand, students usually have numerous quizzes, tests, and homework assignments, and they almost always have to take a final examination in each course at the end of each semester.

Paragraph 3
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________. For example, the Eskimos, living in a treeless region of snow and ice, sometimes build temporary homes out of thick blocks of ice. People who live in deserts, on the other hand, use the most available materials, mud or clay, which provide good insulation from the heat. In Northern Europe, Russia, and other areas of the world where forests are plentiful, people usually construct their homes out of wood. In the islands of the South Pacific, where there is an abundant supply of bamboo and palm, people use these tough, fibrous plants to build their homes.

Supporting sentences
Поддерживающие предложения

Вспомогательные предложения распространяют (объясняют или доказывают) вводное. Ниже приведены некоторые вспомогательные предложения, которые объясняют вводное предложение о золоте, приведенное выше.

Прежде всего, золото обладает блестящей красотой, устойчивой к коррозии.
Например, македонская монета остается такой же незапятнанной сегодня, как и в тот день, когда она была сделана 25 веков назад.
Другой важной характеристикой золота является его польза для промышленности и науки.
В последнее время золото используется в костюмах космонавтов.

Одна из самых больших проблем в письменных работах студентов заключается в том, что они часто не могут адекватно подтверждать свои идеи конкретными и убедительными доказательствами.

Что вы можете использовать в supporting sentences?

примеры
статистика
цитаты.

Примеры – это, пожалуй, самый простой способ аргументирования: вы можете брать примеры из своих собственных знаний и опыта, а не искать информацию в библиотеке или в Интернете. Кроме того, примеры делают вашу работу яркой, интересной и запоминающейся.

Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. That is, they explain or prove the topic sentence by giving more information about it. Following are some supporting sentences that explain the topic sentence about gold.

First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion.
For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made 25 centuries ago.
Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science.
The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits.

One of the biggest problems in student writing is that student writers often fail to support their ideas adequately.
They need to use specific details to be thorough and convincing.
There are several kinds of specific supporting details:

examples
statistics
quotations.

Examples are perhaps the easiest kind of supporting detail to use because you can often take examples from your own knowledge and experience. You don’t have to search the library or the Internet for supporting material. Furthermore, examples make your writing lively and interesting, and your reader is more likely to remember your point if you support it with a memorable example.

Практика /
Practice

Task 3.

1) Read Paragraphs A and B about red-light running. Notice the different specific supporting details that have been added to Paragraph B.

2) Locate the topic sentence in Paragraph B. Circle the topic and underline the controlling idea.

3) Which supporting sentences in Paragraph B contain the kinds of details listed below? Give the sentence numbers of each kind.
An example:
A statistic:
A quotation:

Paragraph A: Paragraph without Support
Red-Light Running

Although some people think that red-light running is a minor traffic violation that is no worse than jaywalking, it can, in fact, become a deadly crime. Red-light runners cause accidents all the time. Sometimes people are seriously injured and even killed. It is especially a problem in rush hour traffic. Everyone is in a hurry to get home, so drivers run red lights everywhere. The police do not do much about it because they are too busy. The only time they pay attention is when there is an accident, and then it is too late. In conclusion, running a red light is a serious offence.

Paragraph B: Paragraph with Support
Red-Light Running

“Although some people think red-light running is a minor traffic violation that is no worse than jaywalking, it can, in fact, become a deadly crime. red-light runners cause hundreds of accidents, including deaths and injuries as well as millions of dollars in damages. Each year more than 900 people die, and nearly 200,000 are injured in crashes that involve red-light running. Motorists run red lights all the time.
For example, in Fairfax, Virginia, a five-month-Iong survey at five busy intersections revealed that a motorist ran a red light every 20 minutes. Red-light runners are seldom caught. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “Communities don’t have the resources to allow police to patrol intersections as often as would be needed to ticket all motorists who run red lights” (“Q&A”).

Topic sentence: Although some people think red-light running is a minor traffic violation that is no worse than jaywalkfag, it can, in fact, become a deadly crime. Topic: red-light running. Controlling idea: It can become a deadly crime.

An example: sentence 5;

a statistic: sentence 3;

a quotation: sentence 7

Main idea: Our language influences our perception. Part of topic sentence that expresses the main idea: “… our perception of the world depends to a great extent on the language we speak.“
2. Examples: Eskimo languages have as many as 32 words for snow; falling snow, snow on the ground, snow packed as hard as ice, slushy snow, wind-driven snow; Aztec language has one word for snow, cold, and ice.
3. A classic example; for instance

Task 4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph? Underline the part of the topic sentence that expresses the main idea.
2. What examples does the writer use to support this idea? Put brackets [] around them.
3. What words and phrases introduce the examples? Circle them.

Language and perception

Although we all possess the same physical organs for sensing the world eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, noses for smelling, skin for feeling, and mouths for tasting-our perception of the world depends to a great extent on the language we speak, according to a famous hypothesis proposed by linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf. They hypothesized that language is like a pair of eyeglasses through which we “see” the world in a particular way. A classic example of the relationship between language and perception is the word snow.Eskimo languages have as many as 32 different words for snow. For instance, the Eskimos have different words for falling snow, snow on the ground, snow packed as hard as ice, slushy snow, wind-driven snow, and what we might call “cornmeal” snow.The ancient Aztec languages of Mexico, in contrast, used only one word to mean snow, cold, and ice. Thus, if the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is correct and we can perceive only things that we have words for, the Aztecs perceived snow, cold, and ice as one and the same phenomenon.

Main idea: Our language influences our perception.

Part of the topic sentence that expresses the main idea: “. . . our perception of the world depends to a great extent on the language we speak.”

Examples: Eskimo languages have as many as 32 words for snow; falling snow, snow on the ground, snow packed as hard as ice, slushy snow, wind-driven snow; Aztec language has one word for snow, cold, and ice.

A classic example; for instance

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I. What is a Topic Sentence?

A topic sentence in a paragraph is like the GPS in a car. It shows you (and others) where you are going and explains the point of the paragraph. Everything else is used as supporting details. The topic sentence contains two parts: the topic and a controlling idea. The topic is WHAT the paragraph is going to be about, and the controlling idea explains WHY the paragraph is being written. The topic sentence helps your reader understand the purpose of your paragraph.

II. Examples of a Topic Sentence

The purpose of your paragraph will be made clear in your topic sentence. The most common reasons for writing are to persuade, to inform, and to entertain. It is also possible that a sentence could do more than one of these.

Example 1:

You will often use a persuasive topic sentence when writing for school, such as in literary essays.

The character Pip in the novel Great Expectations learns the importance of loyalty through his interactions with the convict Abel Magwitch.

Example 2:

An informative topic sentence is often found in scientific articles.

White blood cells help fight infections by attacking bacteria, viruses and germs that invade the body.

Example 3:

Topic sentences that entertain are sometimes found in magazines or other less formal writing.

It’s not hard to raise a bad child if you follow these simple instructions.

III. Parts of a Topic Sentence

There are just two parts in a topic sentence, the topic and the controlling idea. The topic is WHAT the paragraph is about, and the controlling idea explains WHY you are writing the paragraph. In the examples below, the topic is in orange and the controlling idea is in green.

Example 1

Joseph loves to spend time with his friends.

What/who is this paragraph about? Joseph. Why is this paragraph being written? To explain something that Joseph loves to do.

Example 2

Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth.

What/who is this paragraph about? Disneyland. Why is it being written? To show why Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth.

IV. Placement of Topic Sentences

a. Initial Placement

The most common place for a topic sentence is at the beginning of the paragraph because it explains what the paragraph is going to discuss. The initial placement helps the writer organize the paragraph and tells the reader what to expect right in the beginning.

Example:

The best things in life are free. Although most people work hard to buy a good home or a nice car, those are not the things that they care about the most. At the end of their lives, they don’t want to hug their cars, or the walls of their fine houses. They want to be surrounded by the people they care about and who care about them. Kindness is free. Love is free. Friendship is free (or at least it should be!). Of course it is important to make money to survive, but love is important to live happily.

b. Final Placement

Sometimes the topic sentence is at the end of the paragraph, especially when the paragraph is a narrative or a mysterious story. Placing it at the end creates suspense or sometimes works to tell the point of the story.

Example:

The wealthy man was dying. He called for his friends and family to be near him and placed a hand on each one’s shoulder. They cried because they would miss him, and he cried because he had no more time to share with them. The beautiful things that he’d purchased over the years held no meaning. He didn’t care about his diamonds or his yacht or his large home. He cared for his children and the love they shared. They were here with him now and held his hands. He was glad he’d learned the most important lesson in life: the best things in life are free.

c. Medial Placement

The last place, the least common place for a topic sentence, is in the middle of the paragraph. The medial topic sentence usually functions as a transition between two ideas or details. This works when you want to show that there are two (sometimes opposite) points to an issue, but the one you are arguing, the second point, is stronger, more specific, or more important. This topic sentence is generally introduced with a transition signal.

Example:

You can’t survive on love alone. People need money for basic necessities: food, shelter and clothing. Without money, life would be uncomfortable and difficult. However, time and energy should not be completely spent on making money because the best things in life are free. Having fun with friends and family is more important and more satisfying than buying a new car or nice clothes. People provide warmth, affection, understanding, and most of all, love. Money can’t love you back, and it does not guarantee happiness. Some of the richest people in the world are miserable, while some of the poorest people in the world are happy because they have the simple joy of loving people in their lives.

V. How to Write a Topic Sentence

a. The best way to write your topic sentence is to consider why you are writing the paragraph

Decide on your reason for writing the paragraph
After you have figured that out, write down the important details you want to include and see what they all have in common.
Summarize the details into one sentence.

For example, if you want to write about your favorite movie, think about all the reasons that you like it. Is it funny? Exciting? Dramatic? Romantic? Be sure not to include too many things or else you will end up with an essay instead of a simple sentence. Once you have decided on your details, you are ready to write the topic sentence.

Here’s an example, the topic will be in orange and the controlling idea will be in green:

Example:

The best movie ever made was “Star Wars: the Force Awakens” because it was exciting and surprising.

An important point to remember is that the topic sentence should contain all relevant information that’s going to be in the paragraph. There should be no information about romance or comedy. It should only talk about what made the movie exciting.

b. Mistakes to Avoid

One of the biggest problems students face is keeping a paragraph or essay on topic. Sometimes they will write a good topic sentence but halfway through the paragraph, they think of another good idea and follow that. Without revision and editing, the topic sentence will not serve its purpose in the paragraph.

Example:

The best vacation I ever had was in Hawaii. The beaches were so beautiful and clean that swimming in them was like a dream. I especially loved the Waikiki beach. At night, there were free shows with dancers and live music. The music was so good that it made me want to dance. Dancing is my favorite thing to do in the world. When I was young, I studied ballet and tap dance. I’m thinking about taking it back up again. I might even study hip-hop!

The paragraph started out with Hawaii and end up with hip-hop dancing. You can see how the writer’s train of thought began to wander in the seventh sentence. With a different topic sentence, it would be possible to save this paragraph. Consider how different the direction would be with the following topic sentence.

The best vacation I ever had was in Hawaii. I especially loved the Waikiki beach. At night, there were free shows with dancers and live music. The music was so good that it made me want to dance and reminded me that dancing is my favorite activity in the world. In fact, when I was young, I studied ballet and tap dance. The dancing that I saw in Hawaii inspired me to get back into dancing. I might even study hip-hop!

With this new topic sentence, the second sentence would have to be eliminated or changed a bit. You can see how easy it is to get off-topic, but with a good topic sentence, and constant reference back to it, you are less likely to have that problem.

VI. So remember

A topic sentence needs to contain the topic of your paragraph and a controlling idea.
Everything in the paragraph should be connected to the topic sentence.
The placement of the topic sentence depends on the type of paragraph.

VII. Exercises

Each of the paragraphs in this exercise has three possible topic sentences following it. Choose the best one and make sure that it includes the main idea of the paragraph.

1. _____________________________________________. In fact, he usually shows up five minutes early everywhere he goes. Because he’s so considerate, he hates to keep people waiting. He also believes that being early creates a better expereince. One time, when we were going to a movie together, John arrived thirty minutes earlier just so he could get the best seats in the theatre. I’m glad to have such a punctual friend.

a.John loves going to the movies.

b.John is always on time.

c.John hates to be kept waiting.

2. _________________________________________. The place is never crowded, but the service is still terrible. It seems like the staff has better things to do than wait on customers. Once I waited ten minutes just to buy a slice of pizza, and I was the only person in the whole store! I recommend staying away from Billy Bob’s Pizzeria.

a.Billy Bob’s Pizzeria has the worst pizza.

b.Billy Bob’s Pizzeria is an unpopular place to eat.

c.Billy Bob’s Pizzeria has terrible customer service.

3. I walked slowly down the dark path, afraid of my own shadow. But the tug on the leash propelled me forward. Buck, my golden retriever, was determined to take the most deserted trails through the forest. I could hear unfamiliar noises on all sides and urged Buck to do his business quickly. Oh, why couldn’t he be toilet trained? That would be better for everyone! _____________________________________.

a.Buck is an inconsiderate dog.

b.I hate walking my dog at night.

c.The forest is a dangerous place to walk at night.

4. Generally speaking, zoos these days are losing popularity. Many people feel that it’s unfair to lock up wild animals to entertain humans. ________________________________ . Some zoos go to great lengths to build a good environment for its animals. The good zoos treat their animals well and provide opportunities for the public to learn about the natural world. The best zoos protect endangered species and raise awareness about animals and their habitats.

a.Zoos perform a valuable service to society and should be part of every person’s childhood memory.

b.Zoos are horrible places that should be shut down because it’s not humane to lock up wild animals.

c.Zoos that do their best to make a pleasant habitat for the animals can be a pleasant place to visit.

Источник

Use “topic” in a sentence

Other words in the Books and Reading Material category:

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What is a Subject?

What is a Topic?

What is the difference between Subject and Topic?

Definitions and examplesEdit

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In EnglishEdit

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Practical applicationsEdit

HistoryEdit

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Further readingEdit

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TRY USING topic

How to use topic in a sentence

WORDS RELATED TO TOPIC

or topical sentence

Origin of topic sentence

Words nearby topic sentence

MORE ABOUT TOPIC SENTENCE

What is a topic sentence?

Why is topic sentence important?

Did you know … ?

What are real-life examples of topic sentence?

Quiz yourself!

How to use topic sentence in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for topic sentence

Cultural definitions for topic sentence

What is it? Что это?

What does it consist of? Из чего состоит?

Topic sentence Вводное предложение

Практика / Practice

Supporting sentences Поддерживающие предложения

Практика / Practice

I. What is a Topic Sentence?

II. Examples of a Topic Sentence

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

III. Parts of a Topic Sentence

Example 1

Example 2

IV. Placement of Topic Sentences

a. Initial Placement

Example:

b. Final Placement

Example:

c. Medial Placement

Example:

V. How to Write a Topic Sentence

a. The best way to write your topic sentence is to consider why you are writing the paragraph

b. Mistakes to Avoid

VI. So remember

What is it?
Что это?

What does it consist of?
Из чего состоит?

Topic sentence
Вводное предложение

Практика /
Practice

Supporting sentences
Поддерживающие предложения

Практика /
Practice