Syntax and Grammar

• A lot of processing assumes correct grammar.
• Text like newspaper articles is largely grammatical.
• Unfortunately, there is no standardly agreed grammar for English (or most other languages).
• Parts of the language have dynamic grammars (e.g. names).
• The grammar is ambiguous (e.g. I saw the girl with the telescope.)
• The standard approach is to use a context free grammar.
• It is not widely agreed that English is context free.
• Programming languages are generally context free and are described in Bachus Naur Form or British Normal Form (BNF).
• There are a lot of tools for processing these languages (YACC, BISON).