Topic vs. Subject: What's the Difference?
Edited by Sumera Saeed || By Sawaira Riaz || Updated on October 6, 2023
A topic is a matter dealt with in a text or conversation, while a subject is the focus, theme, or entity being discussed or studied.
Key Differences
Topic and Subject are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they possess subtle differences in meaning and usage. A topic usually refers to the specific area or theme under discussion or consideration, often forming a subset of a broader subject. It is generally more specific and is the central point around which conversation, writing, or study revolves. On the other hand, a subject is a broader field of knowledge or area of interest that encompasses various topics. It could refer to an individual, object, or theme that forms the basis of discussion, study, or artistic representation.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
The distinction between Topic and Subject can be viewed through their respective scopes. While a topic tends to be narrower and more focused, offering detailed insights or information about a particular aspect or segment, a subject usually has a wider reach, involving a comprehensive overview or exploration of a broader field or area. For instance, in an academic setting, mathematics can be the subject, with algebra, geometry, and calculus as possible topics within that subject, each dealing with specific concepts and problems.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
In terms of specificity and detail, a Topic is generally more concentrated and delineated, providing a concise and pinpointed perspective on an issue or area. It often addresses specific questions, issues, or themes within the broader framework of a subject. Conversely, a Subject, with its expansive and encompassing nature, allows for multiple interpretations, perspectives, and discussions, providing a holistic and multifaceted view of the concerned field or entity.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
The grammatical roles of Topic and Subject also differ. In grammar, the subject is the part of a sentence which performs the action or which the action is performed upon. It is essential for sentence structure and meaning. The topic, however, does not have a specific grammatical role but refers to the content matter around which conversation or writing is developed. It is the focal point that guides the flow and development of discourse.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Ultimately, the contrast between Topic and Subject lies in their depth, breadth, and function within communication, study, and representation. While the topic is about specificity, clarity, and detail within a limited scope, the subject is about breadth, diversity, and comprehensive understanding, serving as the foundation upon which various topics are explored and discussed.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Detail Level
More detailed and focused.
Provides a general overview or foundation.
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Sep 26, 2023
Usage
Refers to the content matter under discussion or consideration.
Refers to the broader field of study or theme under exploration.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Grammatical Role
Does not have a specific grammatical role.
It is a grammatical role in a sentence, indicating who performs the action.
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Sep 26, 2023
Representation
Represents a specific area or aspect within a subject.
Can represent an individual, field of knowledge, or a theme.
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Sep 26, 2023
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Topic and Subject Definitions
Topic
Topic is the focus or subject of a discourse.
We changed the topic as it was making everyone uncomfortable.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Subject
Subject is a branch of knowledge studied or taught.
Mathematics is her favorite subject.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 26, 2023
Topic
Topic is a matter dealt with in a text or conversation.
The main topic of the book is resilience.
Janet White
Sep 26, 2023
Subject
Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others
Subject to the law.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Topic
Topic is a subject of conversation or discussion.
Climate change is a pressing topic.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
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Topic
Topic is a particular branch of study or theme.
He is well-versed in topics concerning environmental conservation.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
Subject
Likely to incur or receive; exposed
A directive subject to misinterpretation.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
One who is under the rule of another or others, especially one who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
One concerning which something is said or done; a person or thing being discussed or dealt with
A subject of gossip.
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Mar 30, 2023
Topic
(Linguistics) A word or phrase in a sentence, usually providing information from previous discourse or shared knowledge, that the rest of the sentence elaborates or comments on. Also called theme.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Topic
Subject; theme; a category or general area of interest.
A society where a topic cannot be discussed, does not have free speech.
Stick to the topic
An interesting topic of conversation
Romance is a topic that frequently comes up in conversation
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Topic
(music) A musical sign intended to suggest a particular style or genre.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
One that experiences or is subjected to something
The subject of ridicule.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
A person or animal that is the object of medical or scientific study
The experiment involved 12 subjects.
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Mar 30, 2023
Topic
An external local application or remedy, such as a plaster, a blister, etc.
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Mar 30, 2023
Topic
One of the various general forms of argument employed in probable as distinguished from demonstrative reasoning, - denominated by Aristotle to`poi (literally, places), as being the places or sources from which arguments may be derived, or to which they may be referred; also, a prepared form of argument, applicable to a great variety of cases, with a supply of which the ancient rhetoricians and orators provided themselves; a commonplace of argument or oratory.
These topics, or loci, were no other than general ideas applicable to a great many different subjects, which the orator was directed to consult.
In this question by [reason] I do not mean a distinct topic, but a transcendent that runs through all topics.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
One who is under surveillance
The subject was observed leaving the scene of the murder.
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Mar 30, 2023
Topic
An argument or reason.
Contumacious persons, who are not to be fixed by any principles, whom no topics can work upon.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
(Grammar) The noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in a sentence or clause that denotes the doer of the action or what is described by the predicate.
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Mar 30, 2023
Topic
The subject of any distinct portion of a discourse, or argument, or literary composition; also, the general or main subject of the whole; a matter treated of; a subject, as of conversation or of thought; a matter; a point; a head.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
(Logic) The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
The mind or thinking part as distinguished from the object of thought.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
A being that undergoes personal conscious or unconscious experience of itself and of the world.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Topic
The subject matter of a conversation or discussion;
He didn't want to discuss that subject
It was a very sensitive topic
His letters were always on the theme of love
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
The essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Topic
Some situation or event that is thought about;
He kept drifting off the topic
He had been thinking about the subject for several years
It is a matter for the police
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
To cause to experience, undergo, or be acted upon
Suspects subjected to interrogation.
Rocks subjected to intense pressure.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Topic
Topic is a category or class of arguments or ideas.
She often speaks on topics related to health and wellness.
Janet White
Sep 26, 2023
Subject
To submit to the authority of
Peoples that subjected themselves to the emperor.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Likely to be affected by or to experience something.
A country subject to extreme heat
Menu listings and prices are subject to change.
He's subject to sneezing fits.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Conditional upon something; used with to.
The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
(grammar) In a clause: the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are usually the same.
In the sentence ‘The cat ate the mouse’, ‘the cat’ is the subject, ‘the mouse’ being the object.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
(philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
(math) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.
0, we have x
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
To cause (someone or something) to undergo a particular experience, especially one that is unpleasant or unwanted.
I came here to buy souvenirs, not to be subjected to a tirade of abuse!
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
(transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Placed under the power of another; specifically (International Law), owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state; as, Jamaica is subject to Great Britain.
Esau was never subject to Jacob.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Exposed; liable; prone; disposed; as, a country subject to extreme heat; men subject to temptation.
All human things are subject to decay.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Obedient; submissive.
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities.
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Mar 30, 2023
Subject
That which is placed under the authority, dominion, control, or influence of something else.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Specifically: One who is under the authority of a ruler and is governed by his laws; one who owes allegiance to a sovereign or a sovereign state; as, a subject of Queen Victoria; a British subject; a subject of the United States.
Was never subject longed to be a king,As I do long and wish to be a subject.
The subject must obey his prince, because God commands it, human laws require it.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
That which is subjected, or submitted to, any physical operation or process; specifically (Anat.), a dead body used for the purpose of dissection.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
That which is brought under thought or examination; that which is taken up for discussion, or concerning which anything is said or done.
Make choice of a subject, beautiful and noble, which . . . shall afford an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate.
The unhappy subject of these quarrels.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
The person who is treated of; the hero of a piece; the chief character.
Writers of particular lives . . . are apt to be prejudiced in favor of their subject.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
That of which anything is affirmed or predicated; the theme of a proposition or discourse; that which is spoken of; as, the nominative case is the subject of the verb.
The subject of a proposition is that concerning which anything is affirmed or denied.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
That in which any quality, attribute, or relation, whether spiritual or material, inheres, or to which any of these appertain; substance; substratum.
That which manifests its qualities - in other words, that in which the appearing causes inhere, that to which they belong - is called their subject or substance, or substratum.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
The principal theme, or leading thought or phrase, on which a composition or a movement is based.
The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
The incident, scene, figure, group, etc., which it is the aim of the artist to represent.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
To bring under control, power, or dominion; to make subject; to subordinate; to subdue.
Firmness of mind that subjects every gratification of sense to the rule of right reason.
In one short view subjected to our eye,Gods, emperors, heroes, sages, beauties, lie.
He is the most subjected, the most nslaved, who is so in his understanding.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
To expose; to make obnoxious or liable; as, credulity subjects a person to impositions.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
To submit; to make accountable.
God is not bound to subject his ways of operation to the scrutiny of our thoughts.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
To cause to undergo; as, to subject a substance to a white heat; to subject a person to a rigid test.
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
The subject matter of a conversation or discussion;
He didn't want to discuss that subject
It was a very sensitive topic
His letters were always on the theme of love
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Some situation or event that is thought about;
He kept drifting off the topic
He had been thinking about the subject for several years
It is a matter for the police
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
A branch of knowledge;
In what discipline is his doctorate?
Teachers should be well trained in their subject
Anthropology is the study of human beings
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation;
A moving picture of a train is more dramatic than a still picture of the same subject
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
A person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation;
The subjects for this investigation were selected randomly
The cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
A person who owes allegiance to that nation;
A monarch has a duty to his subjects
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
(grammar) one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the grammatical constituent about which something is predicated
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to;
He subjected me to his awful poetry
The sergeant subjected the new recruits to many drills
People in Chernobyl were subjected to radiation
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Make accountable for;
He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Refer for judgment or consideration;
She submitted a proposal to the agency
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Possibly accepting or permitting;
A passage capable of misinterpretation
Open to interpretation
An issue open to question
The time is fixed by the director and players and therefore subject to much variation
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Being under the power or sovereignty of another or others;
Subject peoples
A dependent prince
Sawaira Riaz
Mar 30, 2023
Subject
Subject is a person or thing being discussed or described.
The subject of the documentary is a renowned scientist.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Subject
Subject is a theme of a discourse or artistic composition.
Love is a common subject in his poems.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
Subject
Subject is the part of a sentence about which something is said.
In the sentence The cat sleeps, the cat is the subject.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Subject
Subject is an area of knowledge that has multiple topics within.
Philosophy is a subject that explores various topics related to human existence.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
FAQs
Does every Subject have Topics?
Generally, most subjects can be broken down into more specific topics, but not always.
Janet White
Sep 26, 2023
Can a Subject encompass multiple Topics?
Yes, a subject is broader and can encompass multiple related topics.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Is the Subject always the main focus of a sentence in grammar?
In grammar, the subject is typically the doer of the action and is a main focus of the sentence.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Is a Topic always part of a Subject?
Typically, a topic is a more specific aspect or component of a broader subject.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Can one Topic belong to multiple Subjects?
Yes, some topics may intersect with multiple subjects, depending on the context and perspective.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Can the terms Subject and Topic be used interchangeably?
Sometimes they are used interchangeably, but they have different meanings, with subject being broader and topic being more focused.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Can a Topic be broad and general?
Typically, topics are more specific, but they can be broad within the context of a specific discussion or study.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Can a Subject be very specific and narrow?
While subjects are usually broad, they can be specific and narrow, especially in specialized fields of study.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
Can a Topic have subtopics?
Yes, a topic can be further divided into more specific subtopics.
Janet White
Sep 26, 2023
Is every discussion or study based on a Subject?
Most discussions or studies have a subject as a central focus, but it may not always be explicitly stated.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Can multiple Subjects be covered in a single study or discussion?
Yes, interdisciplinary studies or discussions often encompass multiple subjects.
Harlon Moss
Sep 26, 2023
Can a Topic exist independently without any Subject?
A topic typically falls under a broader subject but can be considered independently in discussions or writings.
Janet White
Sep 26, 2023
Is Subject a grammatical term only?
No, subject is a versatile term; it is used in grammar but also represents areas of knowledge, themes, or entities being discussed or studied.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
Can a Topic be explored in depth?
Yes, a topic, despite being specific, can be explored in depth, depending on the level of detail required.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 26, 2023
Is it possible to have a discourse without a clear Subject?
While having a clear subject is helpful, it is possible to have discourses with implicit or multiple subjects.
Sara Rehman
Sep 26, 2023
About Author
Written by
Sawaira RiazSawaira is a dedicated content editor at difference.wiki, where she meticulously refines articles to ensure clarity and accuracy. With a keen eye for detail, she upholds the site's commitment to delivering insightful and precise content.
Edited by
Sumera SaeedSumera is an experienced content writer and editor with a niche in comparative analysis. At Diffeence Wiki, she crafts clear and unbiased comparisons to guide readers in making informed decisions. With a dedication to thorough research and quality, Sumera's work stands out in the digital realm. Off the clock, she enjoys reading and exploring diverse cultures.
