How the world’s languages order their words
Grammar profiles of 368 languages from WALS Online, the World Atlas of Language Structures: word order, sound systems, word structure, and how each language compares with its family and with the other 2,661 languages in the atlas. Or contrast any two languages feature by feature.
Seven basic orders
Basic order of subject (S), object (O) and verb (V) in the 1,376 languages WALS codes for it, of which 564 are SOV and 488 SVO. Each map below shows one order.
Subject-object-verb (SOV)564 languages · 41%
Subject-verb-object (SVO)488 languages · 35%
Verb-subject-object (VSO)95 languages · 7%
Verb-object-subject (VOS)25 languages · 2%
Object-verb-subject (OVS)11 languages · 1%
Object-subject-verb (OSV)4 languages · under 1%
Lacking a dominant word order189 languages · 14%
Contrast two languages
See every feature WALS codes for both, where they match and where they part.
Start with a language
- EnglishIndo-European · SVO
- SpanishIndo-European · SVO
- FrenchIndo-European · SVO
- GermanIndo-European · no dominant order
- RussianIndo-European · SVO
- MandarinSino-Tibetan · SVO
- JapaneseJapanese · SOV
- KoreanKorean · SOV
- HindiIndo-European · SOV
- Arabic (Egyptian)Afro-Asiatic · SVO
- TurkishAltaic · SOV
- SwahiliNiger-Congo · SVO
- IndonesianAustronesian · SVO
- FinnishUralic · SVO
- BasqueBasque · SOV
- MalagasyAustronesian · VOS
Features people ask about
- Order of Subject, Object and Verb1,376 languages coded
- Tone527 languages coded
- Consonant Inventories563 languages coded
- Number of Cases261 languages coded
- Order of Adjective and Noun1,367 languages coded
- Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase1,184 languages coded
- Definite Articles620 languages coded
- Number of Genders257 languages coded
- Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology969 languages coded
- Tea230 languages coded
Field notes
- Which word order is most common in the world's languages?
- Does verb order predict prepositions and postpositions?
- How many of the world's languages are tonal?
- Which languages have the most grammatical cases?
- How many consonants and vowels do languages have?
- Do adjectives come before or after the noun?
- Why do some languages say “tea” and others “chai”?
Families and areas
Niger-Congo, Austronesian, Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Afro-Asiatic, Pama-Nyungan, Trans-New Guinea, Altaic, and more families. Macro-areas: Africa, Eurasia, Papunesia, Australia, North America, South America.