What is grammar?

"Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves. The more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and effectiveness of the way we and others use language. It can help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression available in English. And it can help everyone--not only teachers of English, but teachers of anything, for all teaching is ultimately a matter of getting to grips with meaning."
                                                                                                                                                              David Crystal, "In Word and Deed." TES Teacher, April 30, 2004

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Studying grammar just by itself won't necessarily make you a better writer. But by gaining a clearer understanding of how language works, you will gain greater control over the way you shape words into sentences and your sentences into paragraphs. In short, studying grammar may help you become a more effective writer. So what is grammar, and how does it fit in the overall study of linguistics? My colleague from Umeå, Dr Mats Deutschmann, provides an overview of UGE Chap 3. Want to know more about him? Click here. For a better viewing experience, view Mats' lectures more elegantly using the Voicethread app available for iOS, and for Android