2 Today while texting my friend, I decided to jocularly send 'How very queer you are!' To me, this sentence sounds correct, but I can't quite understand how it works. Is English not an SVO language? Why would the complement precede the subject and the verb? This looks like an OSV/SOV sentence to me. Further, when 'How' is removed, the sentence suddenly sounds off. Very queer you are. Odd that is. I can imagine such sentences being used in, say, a poem, but it doesn't seem to me to be a grammatical construction. Or might these sentences actually be correct, and would that suggest that English can be OSV/SOV? What is the grammatical function of 'How'? Is it some sort of adverb? Or perhaps an interjection? Is this construction acceptable with other verbs? Him you killed! The dancing lady from afar I had seen, then you approaching her with ill-intent I witnessed. Are these sentences acceptable? Can 'how' be used before them too? How him you killed! How the dancing lady from afar I had seen, then you approaching her with ill-intent I witnessed! grammaticalityword-order Share Improve this question Follow edited 13 hours ago Scella asked 14 hours ago ScellaScella 3955 bronze badges New contributor Scella is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering. Check out our Code of Conduct. 1 Without the "how" you sound like Yoda... – PM 2Ring Commented 1 hour ago Add a comment  |