Feature 6: Topic-Comment Sentence Structure

When the "recipient" of an action becomes known information to both interlocutors, the "recipient" of the action often appears at the beginning of the sentence as the "topic", and the rest of the sentence functions as a "comment." 

 爸爸昨天给了我一个手机,那个手机我不喜欢。

[爸爸昨天給了我一個手機,那個手機我不喜歡。]

 Bàba zuótiān gěi le wǒ yí ge shǒujī, nà ge shǒujī wǒ bù xǐhuān.

 Dad bought me a cell phone yesterday, and I don't like it.

More practice:

  1. 你昨天给了我一本书,那本书我很喜欢。

       [你昨天給了我一本書,那本書我很喜歡。]

        Nǐ zuótiān gěi le wǒ yì běn shū, nà běn shū wǒ hěn xǐhuān.

        You bought me a book yesterday, and I like it very much.

  1. 你昨天给了我一件衬衫,那件衬衫我不喜欢。

       [你昨天給了我一件襯衫,那件襯衫我不喜歡。]

        Nǐ zuótiān gěi le wǒ yí jiàn chènshān, nà jiàn chènshān wǒ bù xǐhuan.

        You bought me a shirt yesterday, and I don't like it.