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English Grammar
Richard Nordquist is a freelance
writer and former professor of English and Rhetoric who wrote college-level
Grammar and Composition textbooks.
Updated November 11, 2018
The word grammar comes
from Greek, meaning "craft of letters," which is an apt description.
In any language, grammar is:
- the systematic study and description of a language. (Compare with usage.)
- a set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and word structures (morphology) of a language.
Without grammar, a language wouldn't
work, because people couldn't communicate effectively. The speakers and the
listeners of any exchange need to both function in the same system in order to
understand each other. The grammar of a language includes basic axioms such as
the existence of tenses of verbs, articles and adjectives and their proper
order, how questions are phrased, and more.
We
Learn Grammar From Birth
Author David Crystal tells us
in "The Fight for English" that "grammar is
the study of all the contrasts of meaning that it is possible to make within
sentences. The 'rules' of grammar tell us how. By one count, there are some
3,500 such rules in English" (Oxford University Press, 2006).
Intimidating, to be sure, but native
speakers don't have to worry about studying them all. Grammar, in fact, it's
actually something that's begun being learned by every person in their first
days and weeks of life, through interaction with others. All native
speakers when they're born and start learning it as they hear it spoken around
them, such as how sentences are put together (syntax), and the pieces that make
them up (morphology).
"A preschooler's tacit
knowledge of grammar is more sophisticated than the thickest
style manual," writes Steven Pinker in "Words and Rules."
"[Grammar should not] be confused with the guidelines for how one 'ought'
to speak" (Harper, 1999).
Uses
of Grammar
Understanding the basics of grammar
is needed to make us proficient speakers and writers, of course.
As Sidney Greenbaum and Gerald
Nelson write in "An Introduction to English Grammar":
"There are several applications of grammatical study:
(1) A recognition of grammatical structures is often essential for punctuation;
(2) A study of one's native grammar is helpful when one studies the grammar of
a foreign language; (3) A knowledge of grammar is a help in the interpretation
of literary as well as nonliterary texts, since the interpretation of a passage
sometimes depends crucially on grammatical analysis; (4) A study of the
grammatical resources of English is useful in composition: in particular, it
can help you to evaluate the choices available to you when you come to revise
an earlier written draft." (2nd ed. Pearson, 2002)
Study beyond the basics increases
our skills, and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively is necessary
in any profession where there's interaction with other human beings, whether
you're giving or receiving directions with other employees, discussing goals of
your company on a particular project, or creating marketing materials for a
nonprofit—the ability to properly communicate matters. Even if you don't know
all the lexicographical terms and pedantic nit-picks involved in the study of
grammar, take it from Joan Didion: "What I know about grammar is
its infinite power. To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of
that sentence."
Types
of Grammar
Whereas students of English mainly
have to deal with just the nuts-and-bolts prescriptive, traditional type of grammar, such as
making sure verbs and subjects agree and where to put commas, linguists have
many more types to examine different aspects of the language, from how
different languages compare to each other (comparative grammar) or use grammatical
parts (descriptive grammar) to how the words
and their usage interact to create meaning (lexicogrammar). They study how people
acquire language and debate whether every child is born with a concept of universal grammar. Teachers instructing
English language learners follow a method of pedagogical grammar for their
students.
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