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# topic

«topic» in Mova's school dictionary: **the subject that people talk, write or learn about** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a topic, topics)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A topic is the subject that people talk, write or learn about. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#m1)

2) In school, a topic is a theme the class studies for some weeks, such as «Space» or «The Romans». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In English lessons a topic sentence tells the main idea of a paragraph. In school, a class «topic» links work in many subjects. In everyday talk, «change the topic» means start talking about something else; «off topic» means not about the main subject. Phrases: «topic sentence», «change the topic», «on topic», «off topic», «a hot topic».

### examples

- Our topic this term is the rainforest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x1)
- Choose a topic for your speech. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x2)
- The first sentence of a paragraph is often the topic sentence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x3)
- Dinosaurs are my favourite topic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x4)
- When I asked about my report card, Dad changed the topic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x5)
- Please stay on topic during the discussion. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x6)
- Climate is a hot topic on the news. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x7)
- "Oh no," replied the counsellor; "I can only discourse on topics which every one should understand." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x8)

### note

Countable noun: a topic, topics. «Topic» means the subject, not the whole text. Do not confuse with «tropic» (a line on the globe) or «topical» (connected with what is happening now).

### In the corpora

- [Asking a bot for practice questions is a smart way to revise, if they cover the right topics.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/11-school-rules-honesty-and-wrong-accusations/12/)
- [A report gives facts about a topic, grouped by idea rather than by time.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/23-reading-non-fiction-recount-instructions-report/27/)
- [Rhythm is the beat of a poem, and it can match the topic, like a fast beat for a rushing train.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/25-reading-poems-meaning-sound-and-pictures/21/)
- [TiPToP is a way to remember when to start a new paragraph: a change of Time, Place, Topic or Person.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/6/)
- [The first sentence of a paragraph often tells the reader what it is about; it is called a topic sentence.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «topic» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.