[Japan] Language Q: Word inversion ?

[TheCount]

Is it particularly common in Japanese to invert phrases. I've been watching anime with subtitles hence I've picked up various things along the way.

Often its like:

English: This isn't a fun place
Japanese: In this place there isn't fun

or

English; I can't do X
Japanese; X I cannot do

Is this a norm or a regional custom or what

[Mr Punch]

It's the norm.

In English we have S V O (subject verb object/complement).

In Japanese it's usually S/O O/S V ( the order of the S O isn't important as it's marked by a special little word called a particle: (w)ha, (h)e, ni, (w)o, de, ga, etc which tells you exactly the grammatical function... followed by the verb mostly being at the end).

The subject is often omitted too, leaving the phrases:

He is happy,

She is happy,

I am happy,

We are happy,

You are happy,

They are happy,

It is happy

etc etc guessable by context.