Which term deals with the structure of sentences, from words to phrases and clauses?

• A. Morphology
• B. Semantics
• C. Syntax
• D. Phonetics

Answer: (C)

Syntax concerns how sentences are built from words into phrases and clauses. It looks at the rules that govern how words combine to form meaningful, hierarchical structures—how a noun and a verb come together to make a simple sentence, how phrases nest inside one another, and how sentence patterns change when forming questions or adding clauses. For example, in English the typical order is subject before verb before object, and syntax explains why that order works and how we alter it to create questions or relative clauses. Morphology is about word formation and the smallest meaningful units inside words, semantics is about meaning, and phonetics is about sounds. So the structure of sentences—from words to phrases to clauses—is a matter of syntax.