There are only a few things that you definitely need to know about in literature and language and two of the most basic elements of writing are grammar and punctuation.
There are other important parts of writing such as sentence structure as well as other important areas such as parts of speech and also a little bit more complex technicalities such as clauses and phrases.
When it comes to sentence formation, if you have no idea about punctuation and grammar then people might even assume that you do not know the basics of how to write anything.
So, let us understand once and for all what is the difference between grammar and punctuation and answer important questions such as, does grammar include punctuation? Let us understand what is grammar.
What is Grammar?
Grammar is basically the set of rules and regulations that allows the proper and standard functioning of language and makes sure sentence structure is standard.
Grammar is an important part of sentence structure but there are several sub-divisions of grammar including adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, nouns, interjections etc.
It also contains other important elements from the governing structure of language including tense as well as subject-verb agreement, syntax and punctuation.
If you do not want to think of grammar as a set of rules then you can also think of it as a simple tool that will allow people to avoid misunderstanding so that they can understand the actual meaning when writing and speaking.
What is Punctuation?
Punctuations are basically tools that will simply help you understand the actual meaning of the sentence because a single sentence can mean a lot of things and you can say the same thing with different intentions.
Think of it like the signs beside highways and you will understand the meaning of punctuation because punctuation will help you know when to stop or when to take a little pause when you are reading a sentence.
Punctuation can also convey emotion because exclamation marks and question marks are very good ways of helping you understand the meaning of a sentence and ascertain any emotion that the writer wants to convey.
While speaking we can utilise our tone to help the listener understand what we mean but since we do not have the advantage of tone when we are writing, the next best thing we can do is to utilise punctuation.
So, Here is the difference between grammar and punctuation
· Definition
The first point of difference between grammar and punctuation is that they mean something different because grammar is responsible for the entire structure of the language.
Punctuation has a different purpose and it is simply to specify the meaning of sentences written.
And of course, punctuation can be utilised to help with the structure but it does not have a responsibility as big as grammar.
· Area of Influance
If you want to understand the area of influence then you need to test out this theory in writing conventions where nobody is going to pay attention to your punctuation but if you get your grammar wrong then you will be seen as an amateur.
The thing with grammar and punctuation is that their difference can be understood if we look at it from a micro and a macro lens of understanding.
Grammar is responsible for the structure and grammar controls a lot of topics such as tense as well as parts of speech and word usage as well as sentence structure and punctuation.
And punctuation is just a set of symbols that are there to simply make sure there is no problem in understanding the meaning of sentences and their intention.
· Importance Levels
It would not be correct to say that one is more important than the other because both grammar and punctuation are equally important in language.
Grammar is responsible for the entire language and is important for creating sentences that actually make sense and ensuring that writing it actually helps you convey a certain meaning.
Punctuation is important because those meanings and those sentences will not make any sense if the tone is incorrect and that is why punctuation helps further with the meaning by indicating the correct tone.
Instead of debating whether punctuation is important or grammar is important, we must understand that punctuation helps with grammar and grammar is incomplete without punctuation.
· Flexibility
This is an area where we can actually see some difference because when it comes to grammar there is not much you can do to bend the rules because they are very rigid.
The entire point of grammar is to standardise a few rules so that the meaning of languages and sentences remains the same across countries and across cultures and across accents and dialects.
If you try to bend the meaning of grammar then there is no point in grammar but when we come to punctuation there is a lot that you can do.
It is totally up to you and your style on what kind of punctuation you would like to use because punctuation is a very hands-on tool and you can you punctuation however you like to convey whatever you want to convey.
We hope this blog has been helpful for you to understand the difference between grammar and punctuation as they are two of the most important aspects of language.
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