Verb Object Subject

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Verb Object Subject or Verb Object Agent - commonly used in its abbreviated form VOS or VOA - is a term in Linguistic typology. It represents the language-classification type in which the following sequence of the three constituents, in neutral expressions, is (example): "Ate oranges Sam."

Examples include Austronesian languages such as Malagasy, (Old) Javanese, Toba Batak and Fijian, as well as Mayan languages like Tzotzil, which are ergative languages. None of these languages have subjects in the English sense of the term, which is why many linguists find the phrase Verb Object Agent preferable to Verb Object Subject.

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