Object–subject–verb word order

OSV is rarely used in unmarked sentences, those using a normal word order without emphasis. Most languages that use OSV as their default word order come from the Amazon basin, such as Xavante, Jamamadi, Apurinã, Kayabí and Nadëb.[3] An exception to this is Mizo and its sister languages, of Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages in the Tibeto-Burman family of languages. Here is an example from Apurinã:[3]

British Sign Language (BSL) normally uses topic–comment structure, but its default word order when topic–comment structure is not used is OSV.

Classical Arabic is generally VSO, but allows OSV in marked sentences (i.e. ones using traditional Arabic declension). For example, Verse 5 of Al-Fatiha reads:

The construction is less used in Modern Standard Arabic, which tends not to use marked sentences, and is generally absent in the colloquial varieties of Arabic, which are generally not declined and tend to observe strict SVO order.

Passive constructions in Chinese follow an OSV (OAV) pattern through the use of the particle 被:

In English and German, OSV appears primarily in relative clauses if the relative pronoun is the (direct or indirect) object: "What I do is my own business."

In English, OSV appears in the future tense or as a contrast with the conjunction but.

• Note: The inclusion of the word "But" may be optional.

It also can occur in the past tense: "The doors I closed", "the steaks I cut" or "the tree I felled" are such examples.

In Modern Hebrew, OSV is often used instead of the normal SVO to emphasise the object: while אני אוהב אותה would mean "I love her", "אותה אני אוהב" would mean "It is she whom I love".[4] Possibly an influence of Germanic (via Yiddish), as Jewish English uses a similar construction ("You, I like, kid")—see above —much more than many other varieties of English, and often with the "but" left implicit.

In Hungarian, OSV emphasises the subject:

A szócikket én szerkesztettem = The article/I/edited (It was I, not somebody else, who edited the article).

Korean and Japanese have SOV by default, but since they are topic-prominent languages they often seem as if they were OSV when the object is topicalized.

Sentence	그 사과는 제가 먹었어요.
Gloss	그 geu the/that 사과 sagwa apple 는 neun TOP 그 사과 는 geu sagwa neun the/that apple TOP	제 je I.POL 가 ga SUBJ 제 가 je ga I.POL SUBJ	먹 meok eat 었 eoss PAST 어 eo DEC 요 yo POL 먹 었 어 요 meok eoss eo yo eat PAST DEC POL
Parts	Object	Subject	Verb
Translation	As for the apple, I eat it. (or) The apple, I eat.

An almost identical syntax is possible in Japanese:

Sentence	そのりんごは私が食べました。
Gloss	その sono the/that りんご ringo apple は wa TOP その りんご は sono ringo wa the/that apple TOP	私 watashi I.POL が ga SUBJ 私 が watashi ga I.POL SUBJ	食べ tabe eat まし mashi POL た。 ta. PAST/PERF 食べ まし た。 tabe mashi ta. eat POL PAST/PERF
Parts	Object	Subject	Verb
Translation	As for the apple, I eat it. (or) The apple, I eat.

OSV is one of two permissible word orders in Malayalam, the other being SOV

OSV emphasises the object in Nahuatl.[5]

OSV is possible in Brazilian Portuguese to emphasize the object.

OSV is used in Turkish to emphasise the subject:

Yemeği ben pişirdim = The meal/I/cooked (It was I, not somebody else, who cooked the meal).