Samoan, for example, differs from the usual pattern displayed by split ergative languages in that the appearance of the ergative is grounded in sociolinguistic factors as well as syntactic ones. The more formal register of Samoan requires the ergative on all postverbal transitive subjects. The less formal register allows the ergative not to be expressed at all.

His dress was ultra-fashionable, and he was be-jewelled, be-whiskered, and be-ringleted a merveille.

There are l-o-n-g lines not just in front of the cashier inside the air-conditioned department stores, but also outside on the streets, as stranded motorists brave Mega-Manila's helter-skelter traffic.

As a rule of thumb, to reliably destroy a hardened missile silo or communications bunker, a one megaton warhead should land within a 600 foot radius of its target. This will ensure that the enemy silo lies within the crater gouged out by the nuclear blast.