Grammar and Syntax: Understanding Their Differences and Interrelatedness

Etienne Mupemba Kabwe Kantanda

doi:10.63942/brjssh.v5.i10.p51.7116

Authors

Etienne Mupemba Kabwe Kantanda Université Pédagogique Nationale, Kinshasa, DRC Author

Downloads

Abstract

Many scholars affirm that syntax is a part of grammar. Some others illustrate it by saying that grammar is a book and syntax is a chapter of this book. This fact has attracted my attention to the extent that I attempt to answer the question: is it true that syntax is a part of grammar and grammar is not a part of syntax? To answer this question, I collected different ideas from scholars who write about grammar and syntax so as to analyze them. Therefore, this article aims at explaining that grammar is grammar and syntax is syntax although they share some common points. In general, sciences are interrelated. Although sciences are interrelated, each science distinguishes itself from other sciences by its properties, characteristics, methods, and subjects of study. Having this in mind, it is clear that grammar and syntax are interrelated and each of them is a particular discipline. This is to say that syntax is a discipline different from grammar which is also another discipline. A discipline cannot be a part of another discipline. If a discipline is a part of another discipline, therefore that discipline is not a discipline. It is not justifiable to say that syntax is a part of grammar and deny that grammar is not a part of syntax since a whole is made of parts. If syntax is a part, grammar is also a part. It means that grammar without syntax, grammar is no longer grammar because its part that makes a whole is missing. If this is true, syntax is a part of grammar, and grammar is a part of syntax. In fact, grammar and syntax are distinct disciplines.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63942/brjssh.v5.i10.p51.7116

Keywords:

and syntactic rules, differences, grammar, grammar rules, grammatical categories, grammatical functions, interrelatedness, syntactic categories, syntactic functions, syntax

Listen & explore

Introduction audio

A spoken introduction to this research.

Open audio file

Research ID

Universal Unique Research ID

22d955c1-d0e5-4b4c-bf94-d7116e055b08

References

Bing. (n.d.). Grammatical functions versus syntactic functions [Search results]. https://www.bing.com/copilotsearch?q=grammatical+functions+versus+syntactic+functions

EnglishClub. (n.d.). Sentence categories. https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/category.php

Fiveable. (n.d.). Grammar rules. https://fiveable.me/key-terms/english-grammar-usage/grammar-rules

Fiveable. (n.d.). Grammatical function. https://fiveable.me/key-terms/introduction-linguistics/grammatical-function

Haines, D. (2024). What’s the difference between grammar and syntax? https://www.grammarly.com/blog/grammar-vs-syntax/

Iseli, M. (2023). The difference between grammar and syntax in detail. DIY Genius. https://www.diygenius.com/grammar-vs-syntax/

Koeneman, O., & Zeijlstra, H. (2017). Introducing syntax.1 Cambridge University Press.

Language Humanities. (n.d.). What is prescriptive grammar? https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-prescriptive-grammar.htm

Linguapress. (n.d.). Descriptive grammar of English. https://linguapress.com/grammar/descriptive-grammar-english

MasterClass. (2021, September 8). Grammar vs. syntax: Differences between grammar and syntax. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/grammar-vs-syntax-explained

Micro Focus. (n.d.). COBOL language fundamentals. Visual COBOL Documentation. https://microfocus.com/documentation/visual-cobol/vc60/devhub/hrlhlhclanu922.html

Osmond, C. (2024). Grammar vs. syntax – what’s the difference? K12 Reader. https://www.k12reader.com/grammar-vs-syntax/

Panggabean, H. (2011). Functional grammar: An introduction to metafunctional components of language. OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, 1(6), 45–62.

Pediaa. (n.d.). Difference between grammar and syntax. https://pediaa.com/difference-between-grammar-and-syntax/

Study Master. (n.d.). Pedagogical grammar. https://www.studymaster.co.uk/explanations/english/tesol-english/pedagogical-grammar/

The Knowledge Academy. (n.d.). Types of grammar. https://www.theknowledgeacademy.com/blog/types-of-grammar/

Zubaydulla qizi, M., & Abdulmutolib qizi, S. (2023). Nouns and their grammatical categories in "Yangi O'zbekiston taraqqiyotida tadqiqotlarni o'rni va rivojlanish omillari". Scientific Journal, 13(2), 118–121.

Reading companion

This companion summary was prepared by the BRJ editorial team to help readers navigate the article. All distinctions below are drawn from the published text.

Grammar and syntax compared, as analyzed in sections 4.2 to 4.4 of the article
Aspect	Grammar	Syntax
Rules	Sentence structure (subject and predicate), basic word orders such as SVO and SVC, parts of speech, verb tense and aspect, pronoun agreement, punctuation, capitalization, voice and word choice	Word order, phrase structure, subject-verb agreement, modifier placement and question formation
Categories	Number, case, gender, person, tense, aspect, mood, voice and degree	Lexical categories (the parts of speech), phrasal categories (NP, VP, AdjP, AdvP, PP) and functional categories (determiners and auxiliaries)
Functions	The roles words play within a sentence: subject, verb, object, complement and adjunct	The types of phrases in the structure: noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase and prepositional phrase
Focus	The properties of the parts of speech, for example the number, gender and case of a noun	The parts of speech themselves and how phrasal structures combine into sentences

Is syntax a part of grammar?

Most style guides and reference works treat syntax as a subset of grammar: all syntax rules are grammar rules, but not all grammar rules are syntax rules. This article challenges that view. Kantanda argues that grammar and syntax are two distinct, interrelated disciplines, because each has its own rules, categories, functions and subjects of study, and a discipline cannot be a part of another discipline.

What is the difference between grammar and syntax?

Grammar is the system of rules governing a language as a whole, including word forms, agreement and punctuation. Syntax studies how words are arranged into phrases, clauses and sentences. In this article's analysis, grammar focuses on the properties of the parts of speech while syntax focuses on the parts of speech themselves and on how phrasal structures combine.

What is the difference between grammatical categories and syntactic categories?

Grammatical categories are properties that cause a word to change form: number, case, gender, person, tense, aspect, mood, voice and degree. Syntactic categories classify the language units themselves: lexical categories (the parts of speech), phrasal categories such as noun phrases and verb phrases, and functional categories such as determiners and auxiliaries. Before analyzing the grammatical categories of a noun, one must first identify the noun, which is a syntactic category.

What is the difference between grammatical functions and syntactic functions?

A grammatical function is the role a word or phrase plays in a sentence, such as subject, verb, object, complement or adjunct. A syntactic function, in the article's analysis, refers to the type of phrase a constituent is, such as a noun phrase or a verb phrase. The same noun phrase can serve different grammatical functions in different sentences.

What are the main types of grammar?

The article's literature review surveys eleven approaches: descriptive, prescriptive, pedagogical, reference, theoretical, comparative, traditional, performance, communicative, functional and mental grammar. Each studies the rules of language from a different angle, from how language is actually used (descriptive) to the internalized rule system in the speaker's brain (mental).

What do grammar and syntax have in common?

Both deal with the parts of speech, word order and subject-verb agreement. The article's point is that they treat these shared subjects differently: syntax asks how phrases are built and combined, while grammar asks how the properties of words, such as tense, number and gender, behave inside those structures.

Copyright & reuse

License terms · Copyright policy

Disclaimer

The claims in this article belong to its authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their institutions, Boston Research Journals, editors or reviewers. Publication does not constitute endorsement of a product or manufacturer’s claim.