syntax
noun
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Syntax is basically about what word comes before and after another word; in other words, it's part of the larger subject of grammar. Syntax is often an issue in poetry, and it's usually discussed in connection with diction—that is, the poet's choice of words. So, for example, your English professor might point out the syntactic difference between "Whose woods these are I think I know" and "I think I know whose woods these are;" whereas if the discussion was about diction instead, the question might be about the choice of "woods" rather than "land", or "think" rather than "bet".
Examples of syntax in a Sentence
Jon Meacham, Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2008
Coming from a great distance and wholly unrelated to the Teutonic, Latin and Slav languages that fence it in, Hungarian has remained miraculously intact. Everything about the language is different, not only the words themselves, but the way they are formed, the syntax and grammar and above all the cast of mind that brought them into being.
—Patrick Leigh Fermor, Between the Woods and the Water, 1986
“I saw that she a cookie ate” is an example of incorrect syntax.
Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 1 July 2025
But the pleasure of writing is a demanding one because of its unrelenting demands—for just the right syntax, the right balance, the right sounds, the right words, the right spellings of our often strange English words.
—Lydia Davis, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
From the March 1958 issue: The perceptions of James Joyce
For Ulysses, too, Ellmann showed how the network of cryptic allusions and the experiments with syntax were part of a bigger plan to capture something true about the intricate crosscurrents of life.
—Eric Bulson, The Atlantic, 16 June 2025
Sedgwick’s mannered syntax and dissective dialogue mark her as a committed Jamesian.
—Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for syntax
Cite this Entry
“Syntax.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syntax. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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syntax
noun
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