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Posted

Hi,

Could you explain the grammar behind the word order in 他今天气色不太好 ? Why is 今天 between 他 and 气色? I would have expected it to be either at the head of the sentence or after 气色 (assuming that 气色 is the subject of 不太好). Not knowing much about Chinese grammar I make a wild guess: Is 他 the topic?

Thanks for any help.

Posted
7 hours ago, trasder said:

I make a wild guess: Is 他 the topic?

 

Yes. Sentences like this are very common in Chinese. If you wanted to make it more explicit, you could say 至于他,今天气色不太好.

  • Like 1
Posted

If you were to place 今天 at the beginning of the sentence it would feel like you are placing emphasis on it. Like "TODAY he doesn't look well" as opposed to "he doesn't look well today".

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