Word Order
Ido’s usual word order is more or less as in English — the person or thing performing the action (the subject) comes first, then the action itself (the verb), followed by the person or thing acted on (the object).
| Iesus konstruktis mea « hot rod ». | Jesus built my hot rod. |
| Me sorcis vu. | I put a spell on you. |
| Me absolute cesus ludar World of Warcraft kelkahore por vu. | I would totally stop playing World of Warcraft for a few hours for you. |
The object can sometimes also appear before the verb, as long as it comes after the subject:
| Iesus mea « hot rod » konstruktis. | Jesus built my hot rod. |
| Me vu sorcis. | I put a spell on you. |
Unlike in English, adjectives* as well as adverbs can come before or after the nouns they describe:
| Me amas mea geya filiulo mortinta! | I love my dead, gay son! |
| To rapide intenseskis. | That escalated quickly. |
Adjectives used as part of a compound verb must come after esar, but can be separated by an adverb:
| Iesus esas fine konstruktinta mea « hot rod ». | Jesus has finally built my hot rod. |
| Me esus absolute cesinta ludar World of Warcraft kelkahore por vu. | I would totally have stopped playing World of Warcraft for a few hours for you. |
However, if one wants to emphasize part of a sentence, one can put that part first (marking it with the accusative -n), or, if the thing to be emphasized is the subject, introduce it with esar:
| Esis Iesus, qua konstruktis mea « hot rod ». | It was Jesus who built my hot rod. |
| Vun me sorcis. | On you I put a spell. |
One can sometimes change the word order to simulate that of a translated original:
| Tota Gallia en tri parti dividita esas. | Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est. |
| Kulfutuos me vun e bokofutuos! | Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo! |
