The order in which subject, verb and object normally appear.
Also called: constituent order.
In precise terms
The typologically characteristic ordering of clause constituents, conventionally summarised as SOV, SVO, VSO and so on. Basic order correlates with other orderings within the language, such as adposition type and modifier placement.
An example
Ben kitabı okudum.
I read the book.
What is going on here
Turkish orders subject, object, verb. This correlates with its other choices: postpositions rather than prepositions, modifiers before nouns, and subordinate clauses before main ones. Basic word order is rarely an isolated fact.
Why this matters when you are learning a language
Word order is the first structural thing you notice and the last you stop translating through. Knowing a language's type tells you where to expect the verb, which makes listening much easier.
Across languages
SOV and SVO are by far the most common basic orders; Turkish, Japanese and Hindi are SOV, English and Mandarin SVO, Irish and Classical Arabic VSO. Languages with rich case marking often allow considerable freedom around the basic order.
Related terms
- Preposition and postpositionBeginner — A small word showing a relationship — in, on, under, after, with. Some languages put it after the noun instead of before.
- Subordinate clauseIntermediate — A clause that cannot stand alone — it depends on a main clause.
- Linguistic typologyAdvanced — Classifying languages by their structural features rather than their family history.
- Grammatical caseIntermediate — Endings on nouns showing their role in the sentence — who did it, who it was done to, whose it is.
- Information structureAdvanced — How a sentence packages what is already known against what is new.
- CliticAdvanced — A small grammatical form that cannot stand prosodically on its own and leans on a neighbouring word.
Where to go next
- Language guides — See grammatical and lexical categories used in context.
- Terminology quiz — Test the terms on this page.