Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m not good at grammar?” The truth is that if a person speaks at least one language, they are a verified grammar expert, even if they don’t know the difference between an independent clause and a subordinate clause.
But what is grammar, and why does it matter if you’re fluent in a language already? Whether you’re grammar-nerdy or grammar-nervous, you’ll learn something new about how all languages are connected, as well as the magical (yes, magical!) history of grammar itself.
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Grammar: meaning and history
The definition of “grammar” includes the study of how sentences are put together in a language and the set of rules that language follows to create meaning in its writing system and spoken form. All native speakers inherently understand it even without studying the specific mechanics of their language’s grammatical system.
The word “grammar” comes from the Greek word grammatike, meaning “book learning” (and also the root word for “magic,” referring to a book of spells!). Greek also had the first recorded grammatical system that analyzed the ways words worked together in writing and speech. The practice was adopted by the Romans, then included in medieval Classical studies of both ancient Greek and Latin. Modern-day Italian grammar still shares many attributes with Vulgar Latin grammar.
As European languages evolved and migrated around the world, so did the study of those languages. Today, the study of grammar is a core tenet of language arts in nearly every language and is considered one of the building blocks of understanding a language’s use and function.
Types of grammar
It feels like grammar should just be one big topic, but according to linguists, there are at least seven types of grammar.
The list often varies, but generally, the types of grammar include:
- prescriptive grammar: The stricter grammar rules that we all learn and follow.
- descriptive grammar: Grammar structure that reflects the way people actually speak and write.
- traditional grammar: Grammar rules that were in place from ancestor languages or dialects (such as Greek or Latin).
- pedagogical grammar: Instructional grammar rules explicitly taught to speakers new to a language.
- generative grammar: The concept that grammar rules can generate infinite structured and hierarchical ideas.
- theoretical grammar: A branch of grammar that focuses on morphology and syntax.
- universal grammar: Categories and rules shared by grammar systems in all languages.
Key components of grammar in all languages
Based on Joseph Greenberg’s theory of linguistic universals, there are a number of rules that are true for any language. One of the reasons learning a new language feels daunting is that you’re learning an entirely new grammatical system. But are you really? Is it possible for some grammar rules to carry through to all languages, even constructed languages that were created centuries after more widely spoken languages? The answer is “Yes.” Many English grammar rules are true for languages that are very different from English in the way they’re written or pronounced.
1. All languages have consonants and vowels.
Phonology is the study of speech sounds, particularly how those sounds are organized to show meaning. All languages have phonemes, which are the smallest unit of language that still make sense, and these phonemes appear as consonants or vowels. Most languages organize these phonemes differently and have differing numbers of phonemes, but phonemes are still the building blocks of all human languages.
2. All languages have word classifications.
Every world language also classifies its words into categories known as parts of speech. They also all contain nouns and verbs (although those distinctions vary by language). But not all languages possess the same parts of speech beyond nouns and verbs. For example, Korean uses words that function as descriptive verbs rather than adjectives, and Malay doesn’t have a distinct class for adverbs that modify verbs.
3. All languages build sentences.
Every language is made up of sentences, though the sentence organization can change quite a bit in different languages. These sentences are made up of clauses and phrases, which are larger units within sentences that convey and clarify meaning.
Many linguists believe that all languages also share recursion, which is the ability to embed clauses and phrases within sentences. But others believe recursion is not a shared trait between every single language, and is therefore not a language universal.
4. All languages share three sentence types.
Languages also share three common types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, and imperative. Every language has the ability to make a statement (declarative), form a question (interrogative), and give a command or request (imperative).
Many languages also contain exclamatory sentence forms, which are declarative sentences that convey emotion or urgency, and many others include even more complex versions of these sentence types and more. But all languages share those three main types of sentences.
5. All languages can turn a positive statement into a negative one.
Negation, or the ability to form negative sentences that reverse the truth of a statement, is another shared trait among all languages. However, like many language universals, negation occurs in different ways across languages.
Some languages insert a specific word to show negation (such as the English adverb “not”), while other languages use double negatives before and after the verb (such as in French grammar rules, including the phrase ne…pas).
6. All languages use word order.
Although the purpose and function can vary, all languages have a preferred word order in their sentences. Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) and Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) are the most common types of word order, and some less widely spoken languages use Object-Subject-Verb (OSV) order.
Sometimes that word order is important to understanding the sentence’s meaning, while other languages use inflection (changing word forms) and grammatical agglutination (adding more morphemes to single words) to show meaning instead. However, no matter the extent of its importance, word order is an integral part of grammar in every existing language.
How to learn grammar in any language
Find the basic truths that you know a language will share with the one you speak now, including phonemes, word classification, and negation. Then explore how the languages differ in the ways they use these elements.
For example, if you know that English uses the adverb “not” before the word it’s negating, see if your new language also uses adverbs of negation. German uses the word nicht to show negation, so German grammar may be easier for English speakers to learn. However, unlike English, German places nicht at the end of the sentence rather than before the negated word, so that rule will be important to remember. Additionally, if you’re studying a system like Japanese grammar, which attaches negative affixes (-nai or -nu) to negated verbs, you’ll need to practice that grammatical difference.
Another way to learn grammar is through language immersion. Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method is an ideal way to see and hear correct language usage in conversation rather than isolated words or sentences, enabling you to identify patterns in a more intuitive way. You’ll also discover irregularities within the language’s grammar usage, which you can note and study more in depth. Ultimately, the best way to master grammar in another language is to master grammar in your own language.
Interesting grammar rules in different languages
Did you know that Dyirbal, an Australian Aboriginal language, classifies females, fire, violence, and dangerous things into a distinct noun class? While some elements of grammar may be universal across languages, others are distinct to just one or two languages in the world.
Learning these rules doesn’t just give you an advantage in becoming fluent in that language—it also gives you insights about that language’s culture and history. Check out these grammar examples from languages with unique and interesting grammar rules, and see if they help you with your studies.
- French and Italian have gendered nouns, including some nouns that change gender in their plural forms.
- Example: The French masculine word l’amour becomes the feminine plural des amours, and the Italian masculine word l’uovo becomes the feminine le uova).
- All German nouns are capitalized, no matter whether they’re the first word in a sentence or a proper noun.
- Example: In the sentence Jeff wohnt die Straße runter (Jeff lives down the street), both Jeff and Straße (street) are capitalized.
- Japanese doesn’t use plural nouns and relies on context clues for listeners or readers to understand which nouns they’re talking about.
- Example: In the sentence Neko o ni hiki katte imasu (I have two cats), the noun neko can mean “cat” or “cats.” Readers can infer that it means “cats” because of the word “two.”
- Spanish is the only language with inverted punctuation marks (¿ and ¡) at the beginning of its sentences. Even though punctuation isn’t technically part of a Spanish grammar system, the reason for the inverted punctuation marks relates to the sentence form, as readers can determine whether the sentence is interrogative or exclamatory before they even start reading.
Grammar vs. vocabulary
Although the terms “grammar” and “vocabulary” are often used together, they describe two different parts of a language. While grammar is the system and rules that hold a language together to create comprehensible meaning, a language’s vocabulary is the list of words that a language uses (similar to the definition of a lexicon).
Think of grammar as a road with traffic laws and lane lines, and vocabulary as the cars on the road. Without the road (grammar), the cars (vocabulary) would run into each other and wreak havoc. But without the cars, the road is just a blank paved space with nothing driving on it. A language needs both vocabulary and grammar to be understandable and transmit meaning.
Grammar vs. punctuation
“Punctuation” is another concept that teachers and linguists use with grammar, but these are also separate concepts. Punctuation includes periods, question marks, quotation marks, and other marks that clarify meaning in writing, but language doesn’t depend on punctuation to actually form meaning. They’re often considered writing mechanics rather than an element of grammar, as fluent speakers of a language can infer punctuation from what they hear, but spoken language doesn’t actually need punctuation to make sense.
Extend the metaphor of the road to punctuation marks, and make punctuation the navigation signs along the road. Yes, these signs make it easier for the cars (vocabulary words) to get where they’re going, but they’re not required to enforce laws or ensure the cars can drive. They’re just helpful reminders that keep things moving efficiently.
Key takeaways about what grammar is
These key elements of grammar will help you connect your knowledge from language to language:
- Grammar is the system of rules that organize and arrange words to show meaning.
- While vocabulary and punctuation are important parts of language, they are separate concepts from grammar.
- All languages include a few shared grammatical elements, such as phonology, word classification, sentence structure, sentence types, negation, and word order.
- Learning the grammatical similarities and differences between your native language and your new language can help you achieve fluency faster.
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