The property Verb Subject Object has the value "yes" when the order Verb Subject Object can be used in a <a href="/glossary#neutral-context">neutral context</a>. The clause in this property is an active (non-passive) declarative (non-interrogative) clause.  In this property, the subject and
object are not pronouns. Furthermore, the verb must be clause initial (see German example below). As with all word order properties, we restrict our attention to <a href="/glossary#productive">productive word order</a> patterns.<br><br>


<b><a href="/glossary#subject">Definition of Subject</a></b>
<br><b><a href="/glossary#object">Definition of Object</a></b><br><!--In an active (non-passive) sentence with an action verb (e.g. "Bill pet the dog") and two noun phrase arguments, the subject is the noun phrase argument referring to the one who performs the action (agent) and the object is the other noun phrase argument.<br>-->
<br>
<b>General Note on Word Order Properties</b>:<br>
A "yes" value for Verb Subject Object does not exclude a "yes" value for any other order of these categories. <br><br>

<b>NA (Not Applicable)</b>: All known languages have subjects and objects in the defined sense, so this property is always defined and never has the value NA.<br><br>

 
Examples:<br><br>
1. Welsh is “yesâ€ for Verb Subject Object:<br>
<br>
Bwytodd         Llion  fara<br>
eat.PST.3SG Llion   bread<br>
"Llion ate bread."<br>
<br>
2.	<br>
In general, a language will be classified as Verb Subject Object when that order is possible with a clause initial verb. German admits the order Verb Subject Object, but only in the presence of an initial adverb (this is the so-called Verb-Second property). Therefore, we assume that German is not Verb Subject Object.<br>
<br>
Heute   kauft      Hans   den        Wein<br>
today   buz.3SG  Hans    the.ACC wine<br>
“Today Hans buys the wine.â€<br>
<br>
3.<br>
English is “noâ€ for Verb Subject Object since this order is always ungrammatical:<br>
<br>
*sees John the airplane.<br>
(* means ungrammatical)<br>
<br>
4.<br>
Japanese is “noâ€ for Verb Subject Object, since this order is always ungrammatical:<br>
<br>
*otosi-ta	dareka-ga		koppu-o.<br>
  drop-Past	someone-NOM		cup-ACC<br>
  “Someone dropped a cup.â€<br>

