1052:
1239:"Jeden Sonntag wasche ich das Auto."/"Elke zondag was ik de auto." (German & Dutch respectively: "Each Sunday I wash the car.", lit. "Each Sunday wash I the car."). "Ich wasche das Auto jeden Sonntag"/"Ik was de auto elke zondag" translates perfectly into English "I wash the car each Sunday", but preposing the adverbial results in a structure that is different from the English one.
1221:, not SVO languages in the sense of a word order type. They have SOV in subordinate clauses, as given in Example 1 below. Example 2 shows the effect of verb second order: the first element in the clause that comes before the V need not be the subject. In Kashmiri, the word order in embedded clauses is conditioned by the category of the subordinating conjunction, as in Example 3.
1145:
context "if you pay attention, you'll see that HE is the one she truly loves", or "его любит она" (him loves she) may appear along the lines "I agree that cat is a disaster, but since my wife adores it and I adore her...". Regardless of order, it is clear that "его" is the object because it is in the
1118:
such as
English, subject–verb–object order is relatively inflexible because it identifies which part of the sentence is the subject and which one is the object. ("The dog bit Andy" and "Andy bit the dog" mean two completely different things, while, in case of "Bit Andy the dog", it may be difficult
1144:
allows the use of subject, verb, and object in any order and "shuffles" parts to bring up a slightly different contextual meaning each time. E.g. "любит она его" (loves she him) may be used to point out "she acts this way because she LOVES him", or "его она любит" (him she loves) is used in the
1023:
after the nouns that they modify, but
Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Indonesian place numerals before nouns, as in English. Some linguists have come to view the numeral as the head in the relationship to fit the rigid right-branching of these languages.
377:
third. Languages may be classified according to the dominant sequence of these elements in unmarked sentences (i.e., sentences in which an unusual word order is not used for emphasis). English is included in this group. An example is
1069:
940:
336:
1537:
1156:, SVO order is basic in an affirmative sentence, and a different order is used to either emphasize some part of it or to adapt it to a broader context logic. For example,
1654:
1418:
992:. Most subject–verb–object languages place genitives after the noun, but a significant minority, including the postpositional SVO languages of West Africa, the
933:
1230:(German & Dutch respectively: "He knows that I wash the car each Sunday", lit. "He knows that I each Sunday the car wash".) Cf. the simple sentence
329:
1408:
1403:
1398:
1393:
1388:
893:
861:
789:
721:
413:
257:
252:
247:
235:
230:
1348:
English developed from such a reordering language and still bears traces of this word order, for example in locative inversion ("In the garden
926:
1199:: John left Mary) is the answer to the question "What did John do with Mary?" instead of the regular sentence "John Mary'yi terk etti" (Lit.
143:
322:
106:
1632:
1498:
1454:
1091:
118:
1570:
1119:
to determine whether it is a complete sentence or a fragment, with "Andy the dog" the object and an omitted/implied subject.)
1073:
274:
148:
1005:
386:
133:
242:
220:
284:
1446:
177:
111:
1062:
702:
101:
993:
1122:
The situation is more complex in languages that have no strict order of V and O imposed by their grammar. e.g.
92:
1619:
Hook, P. E. & Koul, O. N. (1996). Lakshmi, V.S. & Mukherjee, A. (eds.). "Kashmiri as a V-2 language".
846:
264:
182:
81:
997:
966:
818:
746:
454:
362:
76:
71:
40:
389:. Together, SVO and SOV account for more than 87% of the world's languages. The label SVO often includes
1020:
842:
310:
192:
187:
172:
970:
810:
474:
163:
158:
138:
1659:
1195:, but SVO may be used sometimes to emphasize the verb. For example, "John terk etti Mary'yi" (Lit.
1192:
882:
826:
714:
694:
674:
650:
506:
494:
350:
33:
1624:
1560:
1353:
1135:
1131:
850:
814:
618:
590:
558:
530:
518:
61:
54:
854:
1471:
1628:
1504:
1494:
1450:
1364:
he storm away but also slammed the door."), "under no circumstances" ("under no circumstances
1214:
1115:
834:
770:
758:
682:
610:
526:
462:
458:
390:
366:
153:
128:
66:
49:
1227:"Er weiß, dass ich jeden Sonntag das Auto wasche."/"Hij weet dat ik elke zondag de auto was."
920:
Frequency distribution of word order in languages surveyed by
Russell S. Tomlin in the 1980s
1552:
1188:
1141:
1127:
1123:
886:
750:
706:
698:
678:
658:
654:
614:
598:
586:
538:
522:
510:
502:
498:
490:
486:
478:
374:
123:
1206:
1153:
1146:
962:
908:
838:
830:
778:
774:
754:
662:
606:
582:
570:
566:
562:
554:
534:
482:
470:
442:
438:
279:
197:
1605:
The typological database WALS treats German as a language without fixed basic order; see
1027:
There is a strong tendency, as in
English, for main verbs to be preceded by auxiliaries:
1217:
display the order subject-verb-object in some, especially main clauses, but really are
1210:
912:
782:
766:
686:
666:
602:
574:
434:
1648:
1438:
1413:
1218:
1016:
710:
670:
578:
546:
514:
466:
446:
269:
1565:
985:
981:
822:
690:
17:
1051:
989:
977:
1373:
305:
211:
202:
1592:
1556:
1508:
1012:
550:
1000:, and European languages like Swedish, Danish, Lithuanian and Latvian have
1522:
1488:
762:
594:
385:
SVO is the second-most common order by number of known languages, after
1076: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
450:
296:
742:
646:
1334:
If the embedded clause is introduced by the transparent conjunction
1233:"Ich wasche das Auto jeden Sonntag."/ "Ik was de auto elke zondag."
1011:
Non-European SVO languages usually have a strong tendency to place
988:
in noun phrases, the vast majority of them, such as
English, have
542:
1538:"Word order in Austronesian from north to south and west to east"
370:
1606:
1368:
the students allowed to use a mobile phone"), "never" ("Never
1338:
the SOV order changes to SVO. "mye ees phyikyir (zyi) tsi maa
1045:
1372:
I done that."), "on no account" and the like. In such cases,
1576:
1627:: Centre of Advanced Study in Linguistics. p. 102.
1379:
is sometimes required, depending on the construction.
1138:. Here, the ordering is rather governed by emphasis.
27:
Sentence structure; the default word order in
English
961:Subject–verb–object languages almost always place
1476:(Student ed.). Cambridge University Press.
976:Although some subject–verb–object languages in
393:although they do not have nominative subjects.
934:
330:
8:
1327:"I was afraid you might give him the letter"
1171:
1157:
1354:clauses beginning with negative expressions
1315:mye ees phyikyir yithi.ni tsi temyis ciThy
1231:
1225:
941:
927:
337:
323:
29:
1564:
1092:Learn how and when to remove this message
395:
1490:Basic Word Order: Functional Principles
1430:
1321:to.me was worry lest you to.him letter
1104:An example of SVO order in English is:
295:
210:
91:
39:
32:
1443:The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
1419:Category:Subject–verb–object languages
1004:genitives (as would be expected in an
965:after the nouns which they modify and
7:
1360:we find X."), "not only" ("Not only
1074:adding citations to reliable sources
1493:. London: Croom Helm. p. 22.
1042:Language differences and variation
25:
969:before the clause modified, with
1050:
1473:Introducing English Linguistics
1236:, "I wash the car each Sunday."
1061:needs additional citations for
1621:Word order in Indian languages
1409:Verb–subject–object word order
1404:Verb–object–subject word order
1399:Object–verb–subject word order
1394:Object–subject–verb word order
1389:Subject–object–verb word order
1:
1655:Subject–verb–object languages
1589:Polish, An Essential Grammar
1523:"Order of Genitive and Noun"
1487:Tomlin, Russell S. (1986).
1445:(2nd ed.). Cambridge:
154:Ditransitive/Monotransitive
1676:
1470:Meyer, Charles F. (2010).
1447:Cambridge University Press
973:being notable exceptions.
873:
801:
733:
637:
425:
1172:
1158:
918:
703:Standard Average European
404:
1557:10.1515/LINGTY.2007.026
980:, the best known being
967:adverbial subordinators
651:modern spoken varieties
1536:Donohue, Mark (2007).
1232:
1226:
1191:, it is normal to use
998:Sino-Tibetan languages
819:Austronesian languages
1587:Bielec, Dana (2007).
1356:: "only" ("Only then
1219:verb-second languages
843:Otomanguean languages
144:Nominative–absolutive
107:Nominative–accusative
1070:improve this article
994:Hmong–Mien languages
971:varieties of Chinese
811:Algonquian languages
365:structure where the
1545:Linguistic Typology
1180:(I've been waiting
355:subject–verb–object
351:linguistic typology
258:Object–verb–subject
253:Object–subject–verb
248:Subject–object–verb
236:Verb–object–subject
231:Verb–subject–object
226:Subject–verb–object
119:Ergative–absolutive
34:Linguistic typology
18:Subject-verb-object
1625:Osmania University
1352:a cat.") and some
899:"Oranges Sam ate."
867:"Oranges ate Sam."
851:Salishan languages
815:Arawakan languages
795:"Ate oranges Sam."
727:"Ate Sam oranges."
631:"Sam ate oranges."
419:"Sam oranges ate."
391:ergative languages
1166:(I won't buy you
1116:analytic language
1102:
1101:
1094:
954:
953:
369:comes first, the
347:
346:
289:Place–manner–time
285:Time–manner–place
178:Dependent-marking
129:Symmetrical voice
112:Marked nominative
16:(Redirected from
1667:
1639:
1638:
1616:
1610:
1603:
1597:
1596:
1584:
1578:
1577:
1575:
1569:. Archived from
1568:
1542:
1533:
1527:
1526:
1519:
1513:
1512:
1484:
1478:
1477:
1467:
1461:
1460:
1435:
1235:
1229:
1179:
1178:
1165:
1164:
1109:Andy ate cereal.
1097:
1090:
1086:
1083:
1077:
1054:
1046:
963:relative clauses
950:
949:
943:
936:
929:
900:
876:
868:
804:
796:
751:Berber languages
736:
728:
640:
632:
428:
420:
396:
373:second, and the
339:
332:
325:
30:
21:
1675:
1674:
1670:
1669:
1668:
1666:
1665:
1664:
1645:
1644:
1643:
1642:
1635:
1618:
1617:
1613:
1607:WALS chapter 81
1604:
1600:
1586:
1585:
1581:
1573:
1540:
1535:
1534:
1530:
1521:
1520:
1516:
1501:
1486:
1485:
1481:
1469:
1468:
1464:
1457:
1437:
1436:
1432:
1427:
1385:
1329:
1313:
1301:
1293:
1285:
1277:
1269:
1261:
1253:
1147:accusative case
1098:
1087:
1081:
1078:
1067:
1055:
1044:
959:
947:
921:
919:
898:
879:
874:
866:
839:Mayan languages
807:
802:
794:
775:Scottish Gaelic
755:Biblical Hebrew
747:modern standard
739:
734:
726:
643:
638:
630:
431:
426:
418:
380:Sam ate oranges
343:
280:Free word order
198:Syntactic pivot
93:Morphosyntactic
28:
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
1673:
1671:
1663:
1662:
1657:
1647:
1646:
1641:
1640:
1633:
1611:
1598:
1595:. p. 272.
1579:
1528:
1514:
1499:
1479:
1462:
1455:
1439:Crystal, David
1429:
1428:
1426:
1423:
1422:
1421:
1416:
1411:
1406:
1401:
1396:
1391:
1384:
1381:
1346:
1345:
1344:
1343:
1342:temyis ciThy".
1302:
1294:
1286:
1278:
1270:
1262:
1254:
1246:
1245:
1244:
1243:
1240:
1237:
1201:John/Mary/left
1197:John/left/Mary
1112:
1111:
1100:
1099:
1058:
1056:
1049:
1043:
1040:
1017:demonstratives
958:
955:
952:
951:
946:
945:
938:
931:
923:
916:
915:
906:
904:
901:
896:
890:
889:
880:
877:
872:
869:
864:
858:
857:
808:
805:
800:
797:
792:
786:
785:
740:
737:
732:
729:
724:
718:
717:
644:
641:
636:
633:
628:
622:
621:
432:
429:
424:
421:
416:
410:
409:
406:
403:
400:
345:
344:
342:
341:
334:
327:
319:
316:
315:
314:
313:
308:
300:
299:
293:
292:
291:
290:
287:
282:
277:
272:
267:
262:
261:
260:
255:
250:
240:
239:
238:
233:
228:
215:
214:
208:
207:
206:
205:
200:
195:
190:
185:
183:Double-marking
180:
175:
170:
169:
168:
167:
166:
161:
151:
149:Direct-inverse
146:
141:
136:
134:Active–stative
131:
126:
124:Split ergative
121:
116:
115:
114:
96:
95:
89:
88:
87:
86:
85:
84:
82:Oligosynthetic
79:
74:
69:
59:
58:
57:
44:
43:
37:
36:
26:
24:
14:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1672:
1661:
1658:
1656:
1653:
1652:
1650:
1636:
1634:81-85194-42-4
1630:
1626:
1622:
1615:
1612:
1608:
1602:
1599:
1594:
1590:
1583:
1580:
1572:
1567:
1562:
1558:
1554:
1550:
1546:
1539:
1532:
1529:
1524:
1518:
1515:
1510:
1506:
1502:
1500:9780709924999
1496:
1492:
1491:
1483:
1480:
1475:
1474:
1466:
1463:
1458:
1456:0-521-55967-7
1452:
1448:
1444:
1440:
1434:
1431:
1424:
1420:
1417:
1415:
1414:V2 word order
1412:
1410:
1407:
1405:
1402:
1400:
1397:
1395:
1392:
1390:
1387:
1386:
1382:
1380:
1378:
1376:
1371:
1367:
1363:
1359:
1355:
1351:
1341:
1337:
1333:
1332:
1331:
1330:
1328:
1325:
1324:
1319:
1318:
1312:
1311:
1307:
1306:
1300:
1297:
1292:
1289:
1284:
1281:
1276:
1273:
1268:
1265:
1260:
1257:
1252:
1249:
1241:
1238:
1234:
1228:
1224:
1223:
1222:
1220:
1216:
1212:
1208:
1204:
1202:
1198:
1194:
1190:
1185:
1183:
1176:
1169:
1163:ci nie kupię"
1162:
1155:
1150:
1148:
1143:
1139:
1137:
1133:
1129:
1125:
1120:
1117:
1110:
1107:
1106:
1105:
1096:
1093:
1085:
1075:
1071:
1065:
1064:
1059:This section
1057:
1053:
1048:
1047:
1041:
1039:
1038:
1036:
1033:thinking. He
1032:
1025:
1022:
1018:
1014:
1009:
1007:
1003:
999:
995:
991:
987:
986:postpositions
983:
979:
974:
972:
968:
964:
956:
944:
939:
937:
932:
930:
925:
924:
917:
914:
910:
907:
905:
902:
897:
895:
892:
891:
888:
884:
881:
870:
865:
863:
860:
859:
856:
852:
848:
844:
840:
836:
832:
828:
824:
820:
816:
812:
809:
798:
793:
791:
788:
787:
784:
780:
776:
772:
768:
764:
760:
756:
752:
748:
744:
741:
730:
725:
723:
720:
719:
716:
712:
708:
704:
700:
696:
692:
688:
684:
680:
676:
672:
668:
664:
660:
656:
652:
648:
645:
634:
629:
627:
624:
623:
620:
616:
612:
608:
604:
600:
596:
592:
588:
584:
580:
576:
572:
568:
564:
560:
556:
552:
548:
547:Lhasa Tibetan
544:
540:
536:
532:
528:
524:
520:
516:
512:
508:
504:
500:
496:
492:
488:
484:
480:
476:
472:
468:
464:
460:
456:
455:Ancient Greek
452:
448:
444:
440:
436:
433:
422:
417:
415:
412:
411:
407:
401:
398:
397:
394:
392:
388:
383:
381:
376:
372:
368:
364:
360:
356:
352:
340:
335:
333:
328:
326:
321:
320:
318:
317:
312:
309:
307:
304:
303:
302:
301:
298:
294:
288:
286:
283:
281:
278:
276:
275:OS word order
273:
271:
270:V2 word order
268:
266:
265:V1 word order
263:
259:
256:
254:
251:
249:
246:
245:
244:
241:
237:
234:
232:
229:
227:
224:
223:
222:
219:
218:
217:
216:
213:
209:
204:
201:
199:
196:
194:
191:
189:
186:
184:
181:
179:
176:
174:
173:Zero-marking
171:
165:
162:
160:
157:
156:
155:
152:
150:
147:
145:
142:
140:
137:
135:
132:
130:
127:
125:
122:
120:
117:
113:
110:
109:
108:
105:
104:
103:
100:
99:
98:
97:
94:
90:
83:
80:
78:
77:Polysynthetic
75:
73:
72:Agglutinative
70:
68:
65:
64:
63:
60:
56:
53:
52:
51:
48:
47:
46:
45:
42:
41:Morphological
38:
35:
31:
19:
1620:
1614:
1601:
1588:
1582:
1571:the original
1548:
1544:
1531:
1517:
1489:
1482:
1472:
1465:
1442:
1433:
1374:
1369:
1365:
1361:
1357:
1349:
1347:
1339:
1335:
1326:
1322:
1320:
1316:
1314:
1309:
1308:
1304:
1303:
1298:
1295:
1290:
1287:
1282:
1279:
1274:
1271:
1266:
1263:
1258:
1255:
1250:
1247:
1205:
1200:
1196:
1186:
1181:
1174:
1167:
1160:
1151:
1140:
1121:
1113:
1108:
1103:
1088:
1079:
1068:Please help
1063:verification
1060:
1034:
1030:
1028:
1026:
1010:
1006:SOV language
1001:
990:prepositions
975:
960:
691:Modern Greek
625:
384:
379:
358:
354:
348:
243:OV languages
225:
221:VO languages
193:Null-subject
188:Head-marking
1037:reconsider.
978:West Africa
475:Azerbaijani
306:Color terms
164:Indirective
159:Secundative
1660:Word order
1649:Categories
1551:(2): 379.
1425:References
1182:since five
1082:March 2023
1013:adjectives
1002:prenominal
957:Properties
883:Hixkaryana
715:Vietnamese
695:Portuguese
675:Indonesian
507:Hindustani
495:Burushaski
408:Languages
212:Word order
203:Theta role
139:Tripartite
1593:Routledge
1323:will.give
1310:will.give
1242:Kashmiri:
1175:Od piątej
1168:a bicycle
1136:Hungarian
1132:Ukrainian
559:Mongolian
551:Malayalam
531:Kabardian
519:Hungarian
102:Alignment
62:Synthetic
55:Isolating
1566:49214413
1509:13423631
1441:(1997).
1383:See also
1377:-support
1272:yithi.ni
1264:phyikyir
1215:Kashmiri
1021:numerals
847:Qʼeqchiʼ
835:Malagasy
759:Filipino
683:Kashmiri
619:Yukaghir
611:Tigrinya
595:Sanskrit
527:Japanese
463:Armenian
459:Akkadian
363:sentence
311:Numerals
67:Fusional
50:Analytic
1189:Turkish
1177:czekam"
1142:Russian
1128:Finnish
1124:Russian
996:, some
887:Urarina
827:Chumash
707:Swahili
699:Spanish
679:Italian
659:English
655:Chinese
615:Turkish
599:Sinhala
591:Quechua
587:Persian
539:Kurdish
523:Itelmen
511:Hittite
503:Elamite
499:Chukchi
491:Burmese
487:Bengali
479:Bambara
451:Amharic
402:Example
367:subject
361:) is a
297:Lexicon
1631:
1563:
1507:
1497:
1453:
1299:letter
1291:to.him
1288:temyis
1213:, and
1207:German
1161:Roweru
1154:Polish
1114:In an
1035:should
984:, use
909:Tobati
878:
855:Terêna
831:Fijian
806:
779:Tongan
743:Arabic
738:
671:Hebrew
663:French
647:Arabic
642:
607:Telugu
583:Pashto
567:Nepali
563:Navajo
555:Manchu
535:Korean
483:Basque
471:Aymara
443:Adyghe
439:Abkhaz
430:
375:object
1574:(PDF)
1561:S2CID
1541:(PDF)
1340:dyikh
1317:dyikh
1305:dyikh
1296:ciThy
1267:worry
1251:to.me
1211:Dutch
1134:, or
913:Warao
783:Welsh
771:Māori
767:Irish
763:Geʽez
687:Malay
667:Hausa
603:Tamil
575:Oromo
571:Nivkh
543:Latin
435:Abaza
405:Usage
399:Order
1629:ISBN
1505:OCLC
1495:ISBN
1451:ISBN
1370:have
1275:lest
1019:and
711:Thai
635:42%
579:Pali
515:Hopi
467:Avar
447:Ainu
423:45%
382:."
371:verb
1553:doi
1366:are
1362:did
1350:sat
1336:zyi
1283:you
1280:tsi
1259:was
1256:ees
1248:mye
1203:).
1193:SOV
1187:In
1184:).
1170:),
1152:In
1149:.
1072:by
1008:).
982:Ewe
903:0%
894:OSV
871:1%
862:OVS
823:Car
799:3%
790:VOS
757:,
749:),
731:9%
722:VSO
653:),
626:SVO
557:,
461:,
414:SOV
387:SOV
359:SVO
349:In
1651::
1623:.
1591:.
1559:.
1549:11
1547:.
1543:.
1503:.
1449:.
1375:do
1358:do
1209:,
1130:,
1126:,
1031:am
1029:I
1015:,
911:,
885:,
853:,
849:,
845:,
841:,
837:,
833:,
829:,
825:,
821:,
817:,
813:,
781:,
777:,
773:,
769:,
765:,
761:,
753:,
713:,
709:,
705:,
701:,
697:,
693:,
689:,
685:,
681:,
677:,
673:,
669:,
665:,
661:,
657:,
639:42
617:,
613:,
609:,
605:,
601:,
597:,
593:,
589:,
585:,
581:,
577:,
573:,
569:,
565:,
561:,
553:,
549:,
545:,
541:,
537:,
533:,
529:,
525:,
521:,
517:,
513:,
509:,
505:,
501:,
497:,
493:,
489:,
485:,
481:,
477:,
473:,
469:,
465:,
457:,
453:,
449:,
445:,
441:,
437:,
427:45
353:,
1637:.
1609:.
1555::
1525:.
1511:.
1459:.
1173:"
1159:"
1095:)
1089:(
1084:)
1080:(
1066:.
948:)
942:e
935:t
928:v
922:(
875:1
803:3
745:(
735:9
649:(
378:"
357:(
338:e
331:t
324:v
20:)
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