Understanding Syntax

Let's start out by defining syntax.  Syntax involves the rules of constructing phrases and sentences in a language.  Think about the different aspects of sentences and phrases: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, etc. and how they are arranged to interact together and form an appropriate sentence or phrase.

Here's an example of a sentence with good syntax: "My Mom is a nice lady."
Now here's one with problems with syntax: "Mom make cake". This sentence is missing a verb (like "is") and there is trouble with tense and agreement ("make cake" could be "is making cake" or "makes cake".

It is common for young children to use syntax inappropriately while they are still learning up until around the age of 6.  Little ones may utter phrases such as "me hungry", which certainly gets the point across, but the syntactic structure is incorrect. 

Working with your child to improve their use of syntax can be educational and fun.  Here's a few ways to guide them along:

• Read to them, read to them, read to them!  Reading to your child will allow them to see and hear the way proper sentence structures are formed.  Find a time to read to your child each day, whether it's before bed, after school, or after dinner.  Be sure to have a good selection of different types of books so that your child will not become bored with any one book. 
• Take opportunities to correct your child's sentences when the syntax is incorrect and show them the correct way to relay the sentence.
• Make index cards with various nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc. and help your child to put the words together to form sentences.

References

Griffin, P. (2011). Language development: Syntax [Power Point Slides].  Retrieved from online lecture notes.