Theme and Rheme

In a sentence, the *Theme* is what the sentence is about—usually the topic or the starting point that the listener or reader is already familiar with. The *Rheme* provides new information about that theme, explaining, describing, or adding details. Think of the theme as the setting or subject, and the rheme as the part that tells you something new regarding that subject. For example, in "The sky is blue," "The sky" is the theme, and "is blue" is the rheme, offering new information about it.