Lesson 10: Syntax

Old English usually has the word order SVO - subject, verb, object, as in Modern English: "I (subject) am baking (verb) a cake (object)"

However, since the object is also shown by case, this word order is flexible and can be changed to emphasise different parts of the sentence: "Ċeacan (object) bacie (verb) iċ (subject)" - "It's a cake that I'm baking". Also, it is common to change the word order to SOV (subject, object, verb) after many conjunctions, especially dependent ones: "Iċ sæȝde him, þæt ic hine cƿellan ƿolde" - "I told him I wanted to kill him" It's also not uncommon for an infinitive verb to go to the end of a sentence after a modal verb: "Iċ ƿille þone sang singan" - "I want to sing the song"

Adjectives come before a noun - "se grēna mann" - "the green man" unless used after a verb - "hē is grēne" - "he is green". Adjectives always agree with the word they modify in gender, number, and case (after a connecting verb, though, the case is always nominative).