Word order is comparatively free. Adjectives may precede or follow nouns; subjects, verbs and objects may occur in any order. However, the article "the", demonstratives such as "that" and prepositions (such as "at") must come before their related nouns. Similarly, the negative "not" and conjunctions such as "and" and "that" must precede the phrase or clause that they introduce. In copular (A = B) clauses, word order is just as important as in English: "people are animals" is distinguished from "animals are people".
Word order is comparatively free. Adjectives may precede or follow nouns; subjects, verbs and objects may occur in any order. However the article "the", demonstratives such as "that" and prepositions (such as "at") must come before their related nouns. Similarly, the negative "not" and conjunctions such as "and" and "that" must precede the phrase or clause that they introduce. In copular (A = B) clauses, word order is just as important as in English: "people are animals" is distinguished from "animals are people".