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[Coop and Dino singing]

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"Syntax" might sound like a pretty fancy word …or…a Pokémon… [Gameboy playing pokemon]

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…but all it refers to is the way words and phrases are arranged to make well-formed sentences.

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Even though you might not throw the word "syntax" around too much in your day-to-day life, we're

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here to tell you that as a speaker and writer of the English language, you already know [Girl reads book about Syntax]

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a thing or two about syntax.

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So congratulations!

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What, don't believe us? Well, at least you know it's not a Pokémon.

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And whether or not you know anything about syntax, you already know that the order of

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words matters in language.

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The sentence "I can swim" is pretty simple; three easy words that communicate an easy-to-grasp

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idea…namely, that you would survive if pushed into a large body of water. [Girl pushes another girl in a lake]

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…though we really hope that never happens to you…

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But if we change the order of the words – that is, if we change the syntax – we get something

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completely different. "Can I swim" is more of a question than a statement.

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And the answer is, “we don’t know, but we hope you figure it out before you jump [Girl scrambling in the water]

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into the ocean.”

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Change the syntax again, and we might get "Swim I can,” which only makes sense if

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you’re an old, green guy from Star Wars. Syntax is important; not just for making sure [Yoda by a lake]

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we're writing and speaking correctly, but also for keeping our writing engaging.

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The more repetitive your syntax, the more boring your sentence will be,

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and no one wants that. [Girl falls asleep reading book about Syntax's]

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Unless you're trying to put people to sleep.

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In which case, insomniacs everywhere thank you. [Girl sleeping on a sofa]

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Okay, so let's put it all to use…

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Consider this passage: "The man turned off his ringing alarm clock. The man got out of bed.

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The man looked out the window."

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Pretty boring stuff, and it's not helped by the fact that each sentence has the exact same syntax:

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subject, verb, object, each and every time. [Syntax's highlighted from a passage]

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So. Boring.

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But on the bright side, the insomniacs would be clapping, if they were awake. [Man sleeping in bed]

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So let's try to shake things up syntactically, starting with that first sentence.

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What if we start by focusing on the alarm clock, and see how the man responds to it?

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Something like: "The alarm clock rang until the man turned it off." That's a bit better.

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Now for the second and third sentences. We don't need to keep everything so separated. [Second and third sentences highlighted]

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It’s okay to jumble them together, as long we understand what's going on.

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Maybe: "Getting up, he went to the window and looked outside."

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That gives us, "The alarm clock rang until the man turned it off. Getting up, he went

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to the window and looked outside."

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There. The guy's morning is still pretty boring, but at least the syntax isn't to blame. [Man reading a passage of writing]

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The more aware we are of syntax and how it affects both meaning and reader engagement,

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the better we'll be as writers. [Dino discussing syntax in writing]

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And the better we are as writers, the better we are as people.

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Plato said that, right? Or was it Socrates…? [Kids jumping up and down on old man's lawn]

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