Subject vs. Topic: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
A subject is a broad field of knowledge or learning, like biology or history, while a topic is a specific area within that field or a matter of discussion.
Key Differences
The subject refers to a broad area of study or interest, such as mathematics or literature, encompassing various topics. A topic, in contrast, is a specific aspect or idea within that subject, like algebra in mathematics or Shakespeare in literature.
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Nov 29, 2023
In academic settings, subjects are major fields under which numerous topics fall; for example, science is a subject, while climate change is a topic within it. Topics are more specific and focused, often forming the basis of research papers or discussions within a broader subject.
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When discussing writing or speech, the subject is the general theme or discipline being addressed, while the topic is the particular aspect or issue being focused on. For instance, in a speech, the subject might be technology, and the topic could be artificial intelligence.
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In grammar, the subject is the person or thing that performs the action in a sentence, while the topic is what the sentence is about. This distinction highlights the broader application of the term 'subject' beyond just academic or thematic contexts.
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Subjects often represent fields of study in educational contexts, providing a structured framework within which various topics are explored and discussed. Topics, being more specific, allow for a detailed examination or presentation within the confines of a broader subject.
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Comparison Chart
Scope
Broad area of study or interest
Specific area or idea within a subject
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Usage in Education
Represents major fields of study
Refers to specific aspects for discussion
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Example in Writing
General theme or discipline
Particular aspect or issue addressed
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Grammar Context
The doer of the action in a sentence
The matter of discussion in a sentence
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In Research
Broad field under which research falls
Specific focus of research within a subject
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Subject and Topic Definitions
Subject
It refers to the person or thing that is being discussed or described.
The subject of the documentary is endangered species.
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Topic
A topic is a subject of conversation or discussion.
The main topic at the meeting was budget cuts.
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Subject
In grammar, it's the part of a sentence or clause about which something is being said.
In the sentence The dog barked, the dog is the subject.
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Topic
It refers to a particular part or aspect of a larger subject.
Renewable energy is a popular topic in environmental studies.
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Subject
Subject can also mean the area or focus of a person's studies.
His subject of specialization is medieval history.
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Topic
In debates or presentations, it's the matter under consideration.
The speaker chose global warming as his topic.
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Subject
Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others
Subject to the law.
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Topic
It can also mean a specific problem or argument.
The topic of their argument was time management.
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Topic
Topic can be the theme or subject of a written work.
Her essay's topic was the impact of social media.
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Subject
Likely to incur or receive; exposed
A directive subject to misinterpretation.
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Subject
One who is under the rule of another or others, especially one who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.
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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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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.
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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
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Topic
(music) A musical sign intended to suggest a particular style or genre.
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Subject
One that experiences or is subjected to something
The subject of ridicule.
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Subject
A person or animal that is the object of medical or scientific study
The experiment involved 12 subjects.
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Topic
An external local application or remedy, such as a plaster, a blister, etc.
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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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Subject
One who is under surveillance
The subject was observed leaving the scene of the murder.
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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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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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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.
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Subject
(Logic) The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.
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Topic
An external local application or remedy, as a plaster, a blister, etc.
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Subject
The mind or thinking part as distinguished from the object of thought.
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Subject
A being that undergoes personal conscious or unconscious experience of itself and of the world.
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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
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Subject
The essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes.
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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
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Subject
To cause to experience, undergo, or be acted upon
Suspects subjected to interrogation.
Rocks subjected to intense pressure.
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Subject
To submit to the authority of
Peoples that subjected themselves to the emperor.
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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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Subject
Conditional upon something; used with to.
The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.
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Subject
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
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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.
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Subject
The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
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Subject
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
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Subject
A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
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Subject
(philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
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Subject
(math) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.
0, we have x
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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!
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Subject
(transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.
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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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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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Subject
Obedient; submissive.
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities.
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Subject
That which is placed under the authority, dominion, control, or influence of something else.
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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.
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Subject
That which is subjected, or submitted to, any physical operation or process; specifically (Anat.), a dead body used for the purpose of dissection.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Subject
The incident, scene, figure, group, etc., which it is the aim of the artist to represent.
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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.
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Subject
To expose; to make obnoxious or liable; as, credulity subjects a person to impositions.
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Subject
To submit; to make accountable.
God is not bound to subject his ways of operation to the scrutiny of our thoughts.
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Subject
To cause to undergo; as, to subject a substance to a white heat; to subject a person to a rigid test.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Subject
A person who owes allegiance to that nation;
A monarch has a duty to his subjects
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Subject
(grammar) one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the grammatical constituent about which something is predicated
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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
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Subject
Make accountable for;
He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors
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Subject
Refer for judgment or consideration;
She submitted a proposal to the agency
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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
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Subject
Being under the power or sovereignty of another or others;
Subject peoples
A dependent prince
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Subject
A subject is a branch of knowledge studied or taught.
Biology is her favorite subject in school.
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Subject
It can denote the central theme in a work of art.
The subject of the painting is a landscape.
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
What is a subject in an academic context?
It's a broad area of study like physics or literature.
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Is the subject always a noun in grammar?
Yes, it's typically a noun or noun phrase.
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Can a topic become a subject?
Yes, if it grows broad enough to encompass its own subtopics.
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Is the subject in a sentence always a person or thing?
Generally, yes, it's the entity performing the action.
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Does the topic change the structure of a sentence?
No, but it determines what the sentence is about.
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Are subjects broader than topics in books?
Yes, subjects are the general themes under which topics fall.
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Can a subject have a single topic?
Rarely; most subjects have multiple topics.
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Can one subject have multiple topics?
Yes, subjects often encompass numerous topics.
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How do teachers select topics for a subject?
Based on curriculum requirements and educational goals.
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How is a topic different from a subject in academics?
A topic is a specific issue or idea within a broader subject.
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How do I identify the topic in writing?
By looking for the specific issue or idea being discussed.
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Is the subject or topic more important in an essay?
Both are important; the subject gives context, and the topic provides focus.
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Can the subject of a sentence be implicit?
Yes, especially in imperative sentences.
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How do I choose a topic for a research paper?
By narrowing down a subject to a specific, manageable aspect.
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Do subjects vary more than topics?
Subjects are broader, so they encompass a wider range of topics.
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Do subjects and topics affect the tone of writing?
Yes, they can influence the tone and style of the writing.
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Can the topic of a conversation change?
Yes, topics in conversation can shift frequently.
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How is the subject chosen in academic research?
Based on the researcher's interest and field of study.
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Are topics in journalism always part of a larger subject?
Typically, yes, they fall under broader subjects like politics or culture.
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Can a topic be unrelated to the subject?
Typically, topics are directly related to the subject.
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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