A traditional grammar is a framework for the description of the structure of a language. Traditional grammars are commonly used in language education. They may be contrasted with theories of grammar in theoretical linguistics, which grew out of traditional descriptions of grammar.[1] While grammar frameworks in contemporary linguistics often seek to explain the nature of language knowledge and ability, traditional grammars seek to describe how particular languages are used, or to teach people to speak or read them.
The formal study of grammar, based on the work of classical Greek and Latin philologists, became popular during the Renaissance. The use of traditional grammars has gone in and out of fashion in language teaching over the ensuing centuries.
Traditional grammars generally classify words into parts of speech. They describe the patterns for word inflection, and the rules of syntax by which those words are combined into sentences.