[Grammar] pragmatically or syntactically ill-formed sentence?

[lingling_94]

if I read a sentence and think it's missing something like '' too '' or ''plural s'' would it be syntactically ill-formed sentence or pragmatically?
as much as it deals with grammar sometimes you have to count on your previous knowledge and you may be grammatically wrong but that's how you know it ... does it make sense?

e.g.
I eat much food
I eat too much food

these box are heavy
these boxes are heavy

is it syntactically or pragmatically ill-formed sentence?

 

[emsr2d2]

If I read a sentence and think it's missing something like ''too'' or a plural "s'', would it be a syntactically or pragmatically ill-formed sentence? [strike]or pragmatically?[/strike]

As much as it deals with grammar, sometimes you have to count on your previous knowledge and you may be grammatically wrong but that's how you know it ... does it make sense? No, that doesn't make sense. I don't know what you mean.

e.g.
I eat much food. This is unnatural. We don't usually use "much" in a statement unless it's negative or accompanied by "too".
I eat too much food. :tick:

These box are heavy. This sentence is grammatically incorrect. You can't use "These" before the singular "box".
These boxes are heavy. :tick:

Is it a syntactically or pragmatically ill-formed sentence? What does "it" refer to? You posted four sentences.

See above.

 

[lingling_94]

let me say it as an exam question:

the following sentences are ill-formed, correct them and explain their ill-formedness (pragmatically, syntactically or semantically):

A-I eat much food


B-these box are heavy


you see, sometimes in a country that speaks English as a second language, they develop some kind of rules or sometimes they force their first language rules on English ... and there comes the ill-formedness (even though they know it this way and understand each other, native speakers will find their English is odd).
but since it counted on their own knowledge can we say that this is a pragmatically ill-formed sentence?
or say that as long as it's a grammatical error then it's syntactically ill-formed, no matter the case?

and I apologize for the confusion.

 

[emsr2d2]

lingling_94, in future, please make sure your post follows the standard rules of written English:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter.
- End every sentence with a single, appropriate punctuation mark.

 

[Tdol]

you see, sometimes in a country that speaks English as a second language, they develop some kind of rules or sometimes they force their first language rules on English ... and there comes the ill-formedness (even though they know it this way and understand each other, native speakers will find their English is odd).

If you force another language's rules on English, or any language, you may understand each other, but that doesn't mean that anyone else will, including other people who speak it as a second language. There are plenty of cases of this, like Chinglish, and sometimes it can cross over into English. But I doubt that These box are will be considered as anything other that a syntactic error, at least for the foreseeable future. It's not an error that impedes comprehension, but it would still be seen as an error, and I wouldn't see this as pragmatically incorrect.