Syntax (aka grammar)

Syntax is the fancy word for grammar and refers to the rules we follow with our words and sentences. When people talk specifically about rules that govern words, you might hear them say "morphosyntax". Here, we will just refer to everything as syntax. These rules tell us what verbs to use with what nouns, how to change a word to make it plural, how to make a verb past tense, how to combine sentences. These rules determine the order in which we put words in a sentence.