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noun

syntax

the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences

In a sentence

Six example sentences with syntax, each labelled with its topic.

  • The compiler rejected the file over a missing bracket, since its syntax rules allow no guessing about what you meant.

    Technology

  • Latin poets could move a verb to the very end, and that freedom of syntax is impossible to translate cleanly.

    Literature

  • Toddlers master syntax before anyone teaches it, putting the subject first and the object last without a single lesson.

    Psychology

  • Logicians separate syntax from meaning, so a formula can be well formed and still say nothing true about the world.

    Philosophy

  • A dispute over syntax cost a dairy millions, because a missing comma left the overtime clause open to two readings.

    Law

  • Tonal harmony has its own syntax, and a chord that arrives out of order sounds as odd as a verb before its subject.

    Music

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Found in these word lists

Each source is a published word list that contains syntax. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.

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