<p>Many languages have this type of sentence construction to put topic first. It is not unique in Chinese.</p>

<p>You can find it in English too. "This dress, I really want to buy". This dress is the topic of sentence. In Chinese 這本書，我要再看一遍。這本書 is the topic of the sentence.</p>

<p>This kind of construction is quite common in classic Chinese. In Mencius, "魚，我所欲也。熊掌，亦我所欲也。" 魚 and 熊掌 is the topic of a sentence.</p>

<p>In Japanese, putting topic with "は" construction is even more common.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-20T16:37:57.237Z
2019-07-20T16:37:57.237Z
OmniBus
<p>In Chinese, the passive and active are not distinguished by gramma norm. Their distinction is inferred by semantics.</p>

<p>Here 我(I) read 书(book),can never be 书(book) read 我(I). That is the semantics.</p>

<p>Indeed, we have the hanji "被",but if the meaning can be determined from the semantics, this "被" is omitted usually.</p>

<p>If you would like, you can say 这本书***被***我要再看一遍? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-20T02:01:44.343Z
2019-07-20T02:01:44.343Z
cauckf
<p>I am quite confused by the sentence 这本书我要再看一遍. It seems to me like a sentence with a simple subject/verb/object structure, with no complicated time or place words. But why does the object (这本书) come first? Why is it not 我要再看一遍这本书?</p>

<p>Is there some rule describing this scenario?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-19T06:12:54.230Z
see https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/34415/where-does-the-nominative-object-go more specifically, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topicalization
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-19T08:19:38.273Z
Both ways of saying it are acceptable. The tone of the sentence is just a bit different in each.
Hasen
<sentence-structure><word-order>
Why does the object come first in the sentence 这本书我要再看一遍?
# Why does the object come first in the sentence 这本书我要再看一遍?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-07-19)

I am quite confused by the sentence 这本书我要再看一遍. It seems to me like a sentence with a simple subject/verb/object structure, with no complicated time or place words. But why does the object (这本书) come first? Why is it not 我要再看一遍这本书?

Is there some rule describing this scenario?

**Tags:** sentence-structure, word-order

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: see https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/34415/where-does-the-nominative-object-go more specifically, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topicalization  
> **username_2**: Both ways of saying it are acceptable. The tone of the sentence is just a bit different in each.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-07-20. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Many languages have this type of sentence construction to put topic first. It is not unique in Chinese.

You can find it in English too. "This dress, I really want to buy". This dress is the topic of sentence. In Chinese 這本書，我要再看一遍。這本書 is the topic of the sentence.

This kind of construction is quite common in classic Chinese. In Mencius, "魚，我所欲也。熊掌，亦我所欲也。" 魚 and 熊掌 is the topic of a sentence.

In Japanese, putting topic with "は" construction is even more common.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2019-07-20. Score: 0

In Chinese, the passive and active are not distinguished by gramma norm. Their distinction is inferred by semantics.

Here 我(I) read 书(book),can never be 书(book) read 我(I). That is the semantics.

Indeed, we have the hanji "被",but if the meaning can be determined from the semantics, this "被" is omitted usually.

If you would like, you can say 这本书\*\*\*被\*\*\*我要再看一遍?


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