Verb–subject–object

Word order	English equivalent	Proportion of languages		Example languages
SOV	"She him loves."	45%	45	Sanskrit, Latin, Japanese, Ancient Greek, Korean, Hindi, PIE
SVO	"She loves him."	42%	42	English, Hausa, Mandarin, Russian
VSO	"Loves she him."	9%	9	Biblical Hebrew, Irish, Filipino, Tuareg
VOS	"Loves him she."	3%	3	Malagasy, Baure
OVS	"Him loves she."	1%	1	Apalaí, Hixkaryana
OSV	"Him she loves."	0%		Warao

Frequency distribution of word order in languages
surveyed by Russell S. Tomlin in 1980s ( )

In linguistic typology, a verb–subject–object (VSO) language is one in which the most typical sentences arrange their elements in that order, as in Ate Sam oranges (Sam ate oranges). VSO is the third-most common word order, after SVO (as in English and Mandarin) and SOV (as in Latin and Japanese).

Examples of languages with VSO word order include Semitic languages (including Arabic, Classical Hebrew, and Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic)), and Celtic languages (including Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Breton), and many Mesoamerican languages.

Other families where all or many of the languages are VSO include the following:

• the Afroasiatic languages (including the Berber languages and the Egyptian language)
• the Mayan languages (including Classic Maya)
• the Otomanguean languages (including Zapotec languages and Mixtecan languages)
• the Salishan languages
• the Austronesian languages (including Tagalog, Cebuano, Kadazan Dusun, Hawaiian, Pangasinan, Māori, Malagasy and Tongan).

Both the Spanish and Greek language resemble Semitic languages such as Arabic in allowing for both VSO and SVO structures: "Jesús vino el jueves"/Vino Jesús el jueves, "Tu madre dice que no vayas"/"dice tu madre que no vayas".

Examples

Formal Arabic is an example of a language that uses VSO. For example:

Sentence	يقرأ المدرس الكتاب
Transliteration	yaqraʼu l-mudarrisu l-kitāba
Gloss	reads	the teacher	the book
Parts	Verb	Subject	Object
Translation	The teacher reads the book

^* Arabic is written right-to-left

Another Semitic language, Biblical Hebrew, uses VSO, as seen here, in Exodus 33:1 and many other places in the Tanakh.

Sentence	...וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה
Words	וַיְדַבֵּר	יְהוָה	אֶל-מֹשֶׁה
Romanization of Hebrew	Vayidaber YHWH el-Moshe...
Gloss	and-spoke	YHWH	to Moses
Parts	verb	subject	object
Translation	And YHWH spoke to Moses...

^* Words in Hebrew, as in Arabic, are written from right to left.

Spanish

Word order is extremely flexible in Spanish and VSO word order is allowed in practically all situations, but it is particularly common where some element other than the subject functions as the subject of predication. Examples include:

• Todos los días compra Juan el diario. Every day buys Juan the newspaper, “Juan buys the newspaper every day”
• Ayer presentó María su renuncia. Yesterday handed-in Maria her resignation, Maria handed in her resignation yesterday.
• A María le regaló su abuelo un caballo de pura raza. To María dat.cl. gave her grandfather a horse of pure breed, Her grandfather gave María a purebred horse.
• Me devolvió María el libro que le presté. Returned María the book that to-her (I) lent, “María returned to me the book that I lent her.”
• Se comieron los niños todo el pastel. Ben.cl. ate the boys all the cake, “The boys ate up all the cake.”

Celtic languages

In Welsh, some tenses use simple verbs, which are found at the beginning of the sentence followed by the subject and any objects. An example of this is the preterite:

Sentence	Siaradodd Aled y Gymraeg.
Words	Siaradodd	Aled	y Gymraeg
Gloss	spoke	Aled	DEF Welsh
Parts	Verb	Subject	Object
Translation	Aled spoke Welsh.

Other tenses may use compound verbs, where the conjugated form of, usually, bod (to be) precedes the subject and other verb-nouns come after the subject. Any objects then follow the final verb-noun. This is the usual method of forming the present tense:

Sentence	Mae Aled yn siarad y Gymraeg.
Words	Mae	Aled	yn siarad	y Gymraeg
Gloss	is	Aled	V-N.speak	DEF Welsh
Parts	Aux. Verb	Subject	Verb-Noun	Object
Translation	Aled speaks Welsh.

In Irish, phrases are also composed of VERB-SUBJECT-OBJECT.

Sentence	Labhraíonn John Gaeilge.
Words	Labhraíonn	John	Gaeilge
Gloss	Speaks	John	Irish
Parts	Verb	Subject	Object
Translation	John speaks Irish.

In Irish, when forming a question the following would be true:

Sentence	An labhraíonn tú Gaeilge?
Words	An Labhraíonn	Tú	Gaeilge
Gloss	Do ...Speak	You	Irish
Parts	Verb	Subject	Object
Translation	Do you speak Irish?.

Inversion into VSO

There are many languages that switch from SVO (subject–verb–object) order to VSO order with different constructions, usually for emphasis. For example, sentences in English poetry can sometimes be found to have a VSO order, and Early Modern English explicitly reflects the VSO order that in modern English has been made implicit by the suppression of the imperative's (now merely understood) subject (for example, contrast "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" with modern "Gather rosebuds while you may").

Arabic sentences use an SVO order or a VSO order depending on whether the subject or the verb is more important. In Biblical Hebrew a sentence can be in SVO order if it is in past perfect tense, since Biblical Hebrew has no helper verbs. Also, Arabic sentences use a VOS order, the construction of the word changing depending on whether it is a subject or an object.

Non-VSO languages that use VSO word order in questions include English and many other Germanic languages, French, Finnish, Maká, Emilian, and Spanish (but not always).

The North Germanic languages invert word order to VSO in questions as well, (ex: Spiste du maten? - Ate you the food?) but there are also many circumstances, such as an expression preceding the subject and verb, and in subclauses (ex: I går leste (V) jeg (S) boka (O) - Yesterday read I the book) in which the order is also VSO in V2 word order.

See also

• Subject–object–verb
• Subject–verb–object
• Object–subject–verb
• Object–verb–subject
• Verb–object–subject
• Category:Verb–subject–object languages