Syntax: What It Is and Why It Matters

Cynthia Damico
Mar 16
4 min read

Syntax is the system of rules that governs how words are arranged to create meaning in a sentence. It is not about spelling or vocabulary — it is about structure. Syntax tells us which word is doing the action, which word is receiving it, and which words are simply along for the ride, adding color and detail. In short, syntax is the grammar beneath the grammar — the invisible skeleton that holds every sentence upright. And once students begin to recognize the patterns, everything changes.

Why It Matters for Students

When students encounter unfamiliar vocabulary, they often freeze and lose the meaning of a sentence entirely. But if they understand syntax — the architecture of sentences — they have a powerful tool for unlocking meaning even when words are strange. Think of a sentence this way: some words are the meat; everything else is the mashed potatoes. Both matter, but you build the plate around the meat. The "meat" words are the subject and the verb. These are the sentence-changers. The subject tells us who or what the sentence is about. The verb tells us what the subject is or what it is doing. If students can identify those two elements, they can determine the sentence pattern — and from there, deduce which words are modifying which parts. All those modifiers? Mashed potatoes. They enrich everything around them.

When students encounter an unfamiliar word, syntax gives them a strategy. If the unknown word is functioning as a subject or verb, they need to stop, think, and if necessary, look it up — because those are the load-bearing words. If the unknown word is a modifier, they can often deduce its meaning from context, or simply move on without losing the sentence's core meaning. That is a skill. That is power.

Why It Matters for Teachers

None of this works, however, if the teacher doesn't know it first. We would never expect a math teacher to guide students through algebra without understanding equations themselves. Yet ELA teachers are routinely expected to help students navigate complex, sophisticated texts without any formal grounding in sentence structure. That gap is costing students.

When teachers understand syntax — when they can look at a sentence and immediately identify its subject, its verb, its phrases and clauses — they become true guides through complexity. They can point to exactly where meaning lives in a sentence. They can show students why a sentence is difficult, not just that it is difficult. That distinction transforms confusion into confidence. They then have the ability to walk a struggling reader through a dense paragraph from a science textbook, a Supreme Court opinion, or even a nonsense poem — and help that student find the meaning hiding inside the structure. Syntax knowledge isn't a luxury for English teachers. It is the job.

Up for a Nonsensical Challenge? Keep Reading

Let's examine an extreme example, the opening stanza of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

Most of the words here are pure nonsense. Yet students already know the familiar ones: was, and, the, did, in. That's enough to start solving the puzzle. Read together, this stanza is a compound sentence built from four independent clauses — four complete thoughts, joined by conjunctions and a semicolon. Watch what happens when students apply their syntax knowledge:

"'Twas brillig" — T’ (subject) + was (linking verb) + brillig (predicate adjective describing the subject). We don't know what brillig means, but we know it's describing the subject — it's a mashed potato word.
"The slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe" — toves (subject) + did gyre and gimble (compound intransitive verb — the meat!) + in the wabe (adverbial prepositional phrase telling us where) + slithy (adjective modifying toves). We don't know what a tove is, but we know it's doing something — gyring and gimbling — somewhere called the wabe.
"All mimsy were the borogoves" — borogoves (subject — it's the only noun, so it must be) + were (linking verb) + mimsy (predicate adjective) + all (adverb modifying mimsy). Whatever borogoves are, they are very mimsy indeed.
"The mome raths outgrabe" — raths (subject) + outgrabe (intransitive active verb — something definitely happened) + mome (adjective modifying raths). The mome raths did something. We feel it, even if we can't define it.

Notice: students don't know what a tove is, or what brillig means — but they can still identify the subject, name the verb type, and locate every modifier. They can see which words are the meat and which are the mashed potatoes.

When teachers have an in-depth knowledge of syntax, they can effectively guide their students to better comprehension skills. When students understand syntax and can see the structure of a sentence, they stop being intimidated by complexity and start enjoying it as a challenge.

The good news is that syntax is teachable at any age — and when it's taught well, it sticks. Colors of English was built on exactly this premise. Using multisensory materials, color-coding, and sentence diagrams, Colors of English gives both students and teachers a concrete, visual system for mastering syntax. Abstract grammatical concepts become tangible when every part of speech has a color, every sentence pattern has a structure, and every clause can be mapped and seen. Color-coding makes word functions visible. Diagrams turn complex sentences into solvable puzzles. And multisensory engagement means the concepts don't just get memorized; they get internalized.

Some Useful Tools We Use

For some, color coding alone can prove sufficiently helpful.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;