what is the difference between syntactics and semantics in language arts?

Question

For example, I need to be able to decide if the word though was accidentally read as through... would they be syntactically and/or semantically similar.

or like if someone read the word axis for ankles would they be syntactically similar? semantically similar?

Answer 1

Semantic is at the "micro level" or "word level".
For example, consider these two sentences: She persuaded me. She forced me.

Persuaded and forced could mean the same, or they could mean different. This would be what they call a "semantic" argument. It is at the "micro" or "word" level.

Syntactic, on the other hand, is the structure of words. It is a group of words...how they are grouped together.

There are many ways words can be grouped together.

American Institute for English Proficiency, AIEP, Philippines http://www.aiepro.org

Answer 2

The answer to both of your examples is "semantically". Semantics is language at the "micro" level, or word level. Syntactics is looking at the "macro" or sentence/paragraph level--the use of words format.