For finite dimensional hermitean inner product spaces V, over ∗ -fields F, and in the presence of orthogonal bases providing form elements in the prime subfield of F, we show that quantifier-free definable relations in the subspace lattice L(V) , endowed with the involution induced by orthogonality, admit quantifier-free descriptions within F, also in terms of Grassmann–Plücker coordinates. In the latter setting, homogeneous descriptions are obtained if one allows quantification type Σ1 . In absence of involution, these results remain valid.