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# topic

noun (a topic, topics)

«topic» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A topic is the subject that people talk, write or learn about. [tree →](https://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://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#m2)

### 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://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x1)
- Choose a topic for your speech. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x2)
- The first sentence of a paragraph is often the topic sentence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x3)
- Dinosaurs are my favourite topic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x4)
- When I asked about my report card, Dad changed the topic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x5)
- Please stay on topic during the discussion. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/#x6)
- Climate is a hot topic on the news. [tree →](https://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://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).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «topic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topic/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«topic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/topic.html) on Mova free.