Is this sentence correct「小説は読みます」?


Is this sentence correct?

> 小説は読みます

I've learned that は is a topic marker not an object marker. In this case it's
acting as an object marker to 小説 since 読む is transitive a verb.

Now according to the blog I got this from
([here](https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2015/02/26/japanese-particle-
combination-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF-de-wa-and-%E3%81%98%E3%82%83-ja/)) it's
supposed to imply that the speaker reads novels but doesn't read other things
such as short stories.

> One of the functions of は is to imply something applies for the word before
> the は, but there may be other cases that do not apply.

> 小説は読みます

> This implies that the speaker reads novels, but there is probably something
> he or she doesn’t read (maybe short stories?).




In this sentence, 小説 _is_ the object of 読む, but that doesn't mean it's not the
topic of the sentence. Just like a word can be a subject and a topic at the
same time, a word can be a topic and an object at the same time. In other
words, "topic" is a concept that is independent of "case".

  * 私は走ります。  
I run.  
(私 is the subject of 走る **and** the topic of the sentence)

  * 小説は読みます。  
As for novels, (I) read (them).  
(小説 is the object of 読む **and** the topic of the sentence)

For details, please read [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/17574/5010) and [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/98017/5010).

See also [What is a topic prominent
language?](https://eastasiastudent.net/study/topic-prominent/)

> The topic of a sentence is whatever the sentence is about. It’s not a
> grammatical role like the subject, but a more pragmatic aspect of the
> sentence. The topic is the most important piece of information - it’s what
> the sentence is built around.




In this sentence, 小説 _is_ the object of 読む, but that doesn't mean it's not the
topic of the sentence. Just like a word can be a subject and a topic at the
same time, a word can be a topic and an object at the same time. In other
words, "topic" is a concept that is independent of "case".

  * 私は走ります。  
I run.  
(私 is the subject of 走る **and** the topic of the sentence)

  * 小説は読みます。  
As for novels, (I) read (them).  
(小説 is the object of 読む **and** the topic of the sentence)

For details, please read [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/17574/5010) and [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/98017/5010).

See also [What is a topic prominent
language?](https://eastasiastudent.net/study/topic-prominent/)

> The topic of a sentence is whatever the sentence is about. It’s not a
> grammatical role like the subject, but a more pragmatic aspect of the
> sentence. The topic is the most important piece of information - it’s what
> the sentence is built around.

