We start this page with the hypothesis that the lexicon is initially underspecified: that some features may be NIL (not specified as either plus or minus). A NIL feature is represented either with no ...

In English, declarative sentences do not usually begin with a verb. Let us suppose you are struggling in a language class, and complain about it to a friend. "It seems like French is hard," you say.

Pedants, rejoice – National Grammar Day is here! But let’s think carefully about what exactly it is we’re celebrating Yippee (or groan)! It’s National Grammar Day again. You didn’t know? Me neither, ...

Hopefully means “in a hopeful manner.” “I hope the boss lets us out early” and “Hopefully, the boss lets us out early” aren’t the same thing. On the other hand, these are grammar “rules” you can ...

Some time ago, one of my former students requested a column on punctuation, specifically, how to use parentheses and dashes.

When it comes to human language, syntax — the set of rules for arranging words and phrases to impart meaning — is important. People might understand what you meant if you declared “to the store I go ...

When it comes to human language, syntax — the set of rules for arranging words and phrases to impart meaning — is important. People might understand what you meant if you declared "to the store I go ...

They may not have verbs, nouns or past participles, but birds challenge the notion that humans alone have evolved grammatical rules. Bengal finches have their own versions of such rules – known as ...

A shift-reduce conflict is the result of an ambiguity in the grammatical specification of a language, in our case, a programming language. The terms "shift" and "reduce" are explained in the course of ...