SVO (Subject-Verb-Object)

Definition:
The basic word order of main clauses and subordinate clauses in present-
day English: Subject + Verb + Object.
Compared with many other languages, SVO word order in English (also known
as canonical word order) is fairly rigid. Nevertheless, as shown below, a non-
canonical word order is used in a variety of clause types in English.
Examples and Observations:
The woman [S] built [V] a strong stone wall [O].

The children [S] eat [V] buns, cakes, and biscuits [O].

The professor [S] held up [V] an orange [O].

Information on word order of languages was compiled from the 17th century
on; consequently, language typologies were established in the 18th and 19th
centuries. These studies show that the majority of the languages in the world
belong to one of these typologies:
- Subject Verb Object ( SVO).
- Subject Object Verb (SOV).
- Verb Subject Object (VSO).

The most frequent word orders are SVO and SOV because they allow for
placement of the subject in the first position.