Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Syntax & Semantics

Hey everyone! I'm still a little confused about syntax and semantics. Could someone give me an example of each to clarify a little more? I would greatly appreciate it!

6 comments:

  1. Syntax relates to the grammatical aspects of the sentence. (Does it sound correct?) Semantics relates to the meaning of the words and if they all make sense together. (Does it make sense?)

    A sentence could be grammatically correct (syntax), but still have conflicting meanings (semantics).

    Remember that sentence from Ch. 2: "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." This is grammatically correct (syntax). However, as far as semantics go, it is incorrect because something cannot be both green and colorless, and ideas cannot sleep, let alone sleep furiously.

    I hope that helped a little!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, I was confused as well but this helped clear things up.

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  2. Also, an example of incorrect syntax would be:

    The dog runned fast.

    **Correct:

    The dog ran fast.

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  3. Thanks Megan that did help! I wanted to be sure I understood a little better before answering those questions on the test :)

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  4. Thank you for posting this Tessa! I was very confused on that as well but Megan's response cleared up the confusion!

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  5. Love love love how you all have willingly shared what you're still unclear about and how others jumped in to share!!!! Should give you ALL bonus points!!!

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