the verb-subject-object (vso) word order is the third-most common word order in world languages. there are far fewer vso languages than svo and sov languages, and only 9% of them are vso. language groups in which vso is common include afroasiatic languages, such as arabic, hebrew and aramaic, and celtic languages, such as irish, welsh and cornish. in vso languages, "robert opens the door" would be "opens robert the door". spanish sentences are usually svo, but vso is also common. in spanish, the example above can be as "roberto abre la puerta" (robert opens the door) or "abre roberto la puerta" (opens robert the door).