science

Verb–object–subject word order

Verb–object–subject word order is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Verb–object–subject word order rather than just read about it. In short: In linguistic typology, a verb–object–subject or verb–object–agent language, commonly abbreviated VOS or VOA, is one in which most sentences arrange their elements in that order. That would be the equivalent in English to "Ate apples Sam" to mean "Sam ate apples".

Key takeaways

Verb–object–subject word order belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Verb–object–subject word order to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Verb–object–subject word order from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In linguistic typology, a verb–object–subject or verb–object–agent language, commonly abbreviated VOS or VOA, is one in which most sentences arrange their elements in that order. That would be the equivalent in English to "Ate apples Sam" to mean "Sam ate apples". The relatively rare default word order accounts for only 3% of the world's languages. It is the fourth-most common default word order among the world's languages out of the six. It is a more common default permutation than OVS and OSV but is significantly rarer than SOV (as in Hindi and Japanese), SVO (as in English and Mandarin), and VSO (as in Filipino and Irish). Families in which all or many of their languages are VOS include the following:

the Algonquian family (including Ojibwa) the Arawakan family (including Baure and Terêna) the Austronesian family (including Dusun, Malagasy, Toba Batak, Tukang Besi, Palauan, Gilbertese, Fijian and Tsou) the Chumash family (including Inoseño Chumash) the Mayan family (including Huastec, Yucatec, Mopán, Lacondón, Chol, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Chuj, Tojolabal, Cakchiquel, Tzutujil, Sacapultec, Pocomam, Pocomchí and Kekchi) the Otomanguean family (including Mezquital Otomi and Highland Otomi) the Salishan family (including Coeur d'Alene and Twana)

Incidence

Typology VOS word order is the fourth-most-common of the world's languages, and has verb-initial word order, like VSO. Very few languages have a fixed VOS word order, most primarily in the Austronesian and Mayan language families. Many verb-initial languages exhibit a flexible word order (such as St’át’imcets, Chamorro, and Tongan), alternating between VOS and VSO. VOS and VSO are usually classified as verb-initial because they share many similar properties, such as the absence of the verb "have" and predicate-initial grammar. Though not as universal, many verb-initial languages also have ergative clauses. For instance, most Mayan languages have an ergative-absolutive system of verb agreement and some Austronesian languages have an ergative-absolutive system of case marking (see also symmetrical voice).

Occurrence VOS occurs in many languages, including Austronesian languages (such as Malagasy, Old Javanese, Toba Batak, Dusun, and Fijian), Mayan languages (such as Kaqchikel and Tzotzil), and even Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, the last of which has a very free word order with inversions. In Hadza, the default order is VSO, but VOS is very common as well. This is also the case for some Salishan languages. In Arabic, the typical order is VSO, but VOS is an option and in some sentences mandatory.

Arabic (special cases) Classical Arabic has free word order due to its use of case endings to mark grammatical case, but VSO sentences are the default. Modern Standard Arabic is more likely to use SVO order (under the influence of colloquial varieties which prefer or require it due to the loss of case endings). However, VOS order is sometimes used in both Classical and Modern Standard Arabic in special cases. The first table (note that Arabic is written from right to left) will illustrate the SVO form of the sentence, the second table will illustrate the VSO form, and the third table will illustrate the VOS form:

The first table is meant to give a basic understanding of the general form of sentences in Arabic. The second table displays a VSO sentence in which the verb appears at the beginning of the sentence and is followed by the subject and the object. Such a sentence is produced by moving the verb to the empty CP, which is the sister of the IP, and results in the production from SVO to VOS. The subject (the teacher) uses the nominative case, and the object (the lesson) uses the accusative case. The third table displays a VOS sentence. At first glance, that process seems very similar to the VSO word order, but the reality is rather different. Rather than the V moving forward, the S actually moves from the beginning position of SVO to the end position of VOS. That is because of a process known as subject adjunction in which the subject may be unmentioned. Here is an example of subject adjunction:

Context: *The teacher has taught a class and read a specific lesson. Both speakers are wary that either a male or female teacher read a specific lesson. Question: "Who read the lesson? Response: He read the lesson/The teacher read the lesson Based on the context provided, both speakers are wary of a specific lesson taking place and refer to a set of entities being a male and a female teacher. To differentiate between both entities, the use of an anaphoric expression matching in gender results in the capability to differentiate between them. One of the qualities of Arabic verbal morphology is the immediate integration of gender and plurality in the verb. As a result, the subject no longer needs to be mentioned since there is an anaphora attached to the verb. Since the subject has been moved to the end of the sentence, the property of extended projection principle must be fulfilled since there is no specifier. The specifier of the inflectional phrase is thus PRO. The subject (the teacher) uses the nominative case, and the object (the lesson) uses an accusative case.

Baure Baure is an Arawakan language that also follows verb-initial word order. One of Baure's primary features is the importance in agreement of phi features. This example illustrates not only the verb-object-subject order but also the affixes for each verb:

That sentence displays a transitive verb with markers, indicating agreement in phi features for the subject and the object. The analysis of each affix is as follows:

Pi (1): The "Pi" refers to the second-person singular, indicating that the sentence involves direct conversation. One may assume that the person being identified is "you." Ri: The "Ri" refers to a third-person entity that is feminine. The sentence states "take her to the..." and so the "Ri" acts like the pronoun "her." Pi (2): The "Pi" of the second word refers to the same person with whom is directly conversed, "you." Čo: The "čo" refers to the applied form since it matches the suffix of the first verb, which refers to "her." However, in the sentence, it contributes to no semantic meaning.

Cantonese (special cases) Despite being a SVO language, there is evidence to suggest that Cantonese uses VOS word order in some cases, such as in casual speech or relative clauses.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Verb–object–subject word order

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Verb–object–subject word order claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Verb–object–subject word order before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Verb–object–subject word order ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Verb–object–subject word order

In research: Verb–object–subject word order appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Verb–object–subject word order in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Verb–object–subject word order is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Verb–object–subject languages, Word order, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Verb–object–subject word order outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Verb–object–subject word order in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Verb–object–subject word order means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Verb–object–subject word order out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Verb–object–subject word order in simple terms?

Why does Verb–object–subject word order matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Verb–object–subject word order?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Verb–object–subject word order.