You know how in English the sentence always follows the same order — subject, verb, object? “I don’t like this dish.” The dish comes last because that’s where objects live in English. Chinese doesn’t care about that rule at all.
If something is already on your mind, or already established in the conversation, you can just put it at the front and then say what you think about it. 这个菜我不喜欢(This dish i not like)— you lead with “this dish” and then you say “I don’t like.” The dish is the topic, and everything after it is the comment about it. 这个菜 (zhège cài) *这个 means this and 菜 means dish. 菜不好吃 (cài bù hǎo chī) — “the food/dish doesn’t taste good”
It gives the language a very different rhythm — you always know immediately what the sentence is about, before you even hear the comment. English makes you wait for the verb to know what’s happening. Chinese tells you the subject first, then builds around it.
