Syntax Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Syntax distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

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Quick Reference

Phrase Structure

The hierarchical organization of words into nested groups called phrases (noun phrases, verb phrases, prepositional phrases, etc.), each headed by a particular category of word. Phrase structure rules describe how phrases are built from smaller constituents.

Constituency

The principle that words group together into units called constituents that function as single blocks within the sentence. Constituency can be tested through substitution, movement, and coordination tests.

Generative Grammar

A linguistic theory, pioneered by Noam Chomsky, proposing that a finite set of recursive rules can generate the infinite set of grammatical sentences in a language. It emphasizes the innate biological basis of language capacity.

Deep Structure and Surface Structure

In early transformational grammar, deep structure is the abstract underlying representation of a sentence that determines its semantic interpretation, while surface structure is the actual form of the sentence as it is spoken or written.

Transformational Rules

Operations that convert one syntactic structure into another by moving, inserting, or deleting elements. Transformations relate deep structures to surface structures and account for phenomena like passivization, question formation, and topicalization.

Recursion

The property of syntactic rules that allows a structure to contain an instance of the same type of structure within it, enabling the creation of infinitely long sentences from finite grammatical rules.

X-bar Theory

A theory of phrase structure proposing that all phrases share a common hierarchical schema with three levels: the head (X), an intermediate level (X-bar or X'), and a maximal projection (XP), providing a uniform template for all phrase types.

Grammatical Relations

The functional roles that noun phrases play in a sentence, including subject, direct object, and indirect object. These relations are defined by their structural position and determine agreement, case marking, and other syntactic behaviors.

Movement

A syntactic operation in which a constituent is displaced from its base-generated position to another position in the sentence, leaving behind a trace or copy. Movement accounts for phenomena in questions, relative clauses, and topicalization.

Agreement

A syntactic phenomenon in which the form of one word changes to match grammatical features (person, number, gender, case) of another word it is structurally related to, typically between a subject and its verb.

Key Terms at a Glance

Adjunct:An optional modifier that adds extra information to a phrase but is not required by the head.

Agreement:A grammatical phenomenon where one word changes form to match features (person, number, gender) of another word.

Anaphor:A linguistic expression (like 'himself' or 'each other') that must find its antecedent within a local syntactic domain.

Binding Theory:A set of syntactic principles governing the referential relationships between noun phrases, pronouns, and anaphors.

C-command:A structural relation where node A c-commands node B if A does not dominate B and every node dominating A also dominates B.

Clause:A syntactic unit containing a subject and a predicate, which may be independent (main clause) or dependent (subordinate clause).

Complement:A phrase required by the head of a construction to complete its meaning.

Complementizer:A functional word (such as 'that,' 'whether,' 'if') that introduces a subordinate clause.

Constituency:The grouping of words into structural units that behave as single blocks for syntactic operations.

Deep Structure:In transformational grammar, the abstract underlying syntactic representation of a sentence before transformations apply.

Dependency Grammar:A syntactic framework that represents structure through directed head-dependent relations between individual words.

Determiner:A word (such as 'the,' 'a,' 'this,' 'every') that specifies the reference of a noun phrase.

Generative Grammar:A theory positing that a finite set of rules can generate the infinite set of grammatical sentences in a language.

Grammatical Relation:A syntactic function such as subject, direct object, or indirect object, defined by structural position.

Head:The central word of a phrase that determines its syntactic category and grammatical properties.

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