Grammar and Syntax: Part Two
This is another of a perhaps infinite number of posts differentiating grammar from syntax, this time focusing on the definition of Syntax.
Syntax is more interactive than grammar — grammar being a set of static rules in its traditional definition. Syntax studies the interrelationships between elements in a sentence, how a sentence is constructed, and the relationships between sentences.
How to these sentences relate to each other?
“John opened the store at 3:00.”
“The store was opened at 3:00 [by John].”
“Did John open the store at 3:00?”
“Would that John had opened the store at 3:00.”
The elements in the sentences are the same, but they are placed differently, there is an optional element in the second sentence, and there is movement of the “-ed” in sentence three to “did” to make the sentence a question. The last sentence is just there to blow your mind. Syntax studies how this works.
A child first speaks in single words, then in two-word phrases, and finally, he or she masters syntax — how to put together words into grammatical sentences. Considering how complex syntax is, it’s amazing that all humans master it, except those who were raised by wolves, or sequestered silent in a closet, or those with catastrophic mental challenges.
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