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When I first wrote this question, there were 22 questions using . Should not those questions use a more specific tag, or (eventually) ?

It seems to me that is used when users don't know which specific tag to use, or when asking about the grammaticality of a phrase. In the first case, the more specific tag should be used; in the second case, should be more appropriate.

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    There are actually two questions: (1) Should we remove "grammar" and (2) Should we add "grammaticality". I suggest we use this meta-question for the first, and elect the answer with most votes as a decision.
    – Vanege Mod
    Commented Sep 27, 2016 at 21:16
  • There is no need of two questions. First off, a question suggesting to remove a tag should also suggest an alternative tag, if there is one. Then, remove and add is simply replace.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Sep 28, 2016 at 4:21
  • This is actually very confusing. We should definitely NOT have tags with words that are extremely unusual and not readily understood.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 11:53
  • @CharlotteSL Grammar is a perfectly understood term; the problem is that it would be applicable to too much questions, including the ones about verbs, tenses, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 11:59
  • No. You misunderstand me. "grammaticality" is unusual and confusing. That makes the word unsuitable as a tag.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:02
  • @CharlotteSL What do you find unusual about the state or quality of being grammatical? It is a well-know term used when learning a language and its grammar. When you are asking if you are using the correct grammar when writing a phrase, you are asking about its grammaticality.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:06
  • Even Dictionary.com has an entry for that word.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:09
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    How many native speakers use the word "grammaticality" from the top of their heads? I spoke to a native speaker today that didn't know about it. If my question is about grammar, I can simply use the tag "grammar".
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:10
  • @CharlotteSL Do you mean English native speakers? I think there are many native speakers that use grammaticality. No, if you are asking about the grammaticality of a phrase, you aren't asking about grammar. 90% of the questions would be about grammar (e.g. verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions). Take off the questions about the history of a language, the etymology of a word, useful online resources, and you will see how many questions are about grammar. Compared to that, questions about grammaticality are quite less.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:15
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    Yes, English native speakers. Our audience is Esperanto speakers and English (native) speakers. "is the grammar in this sentence okay?" Is a typical, normal question. Very few people would say "what do you think of the grammaticality of my sentence?" Or "is it grammatically fine?". People don't say that.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:20
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:32
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    On what do you base your assumption that a lot of people use the word? A simple google search shows that linguists and dictionaries are the top results. Exactly these people don't need this tag. google.de/?gws_rd=ssl#q=grammaticality
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:35
  • @CharlotteSL Google doesn't replace a corpus; you cannot use it to show a word is not know. The Wikipedia Corpus shows a frequency of 62 sentences using it, while the Corpus of Contemporary American English shows a frequency of 74 sentences. On which basis do you assume grammaticality is not a know word?
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 13:33
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    I didn't say it wasn't known, I'm saying it isn't normally used by non-experts. That is why the google search is a good example - it shows in which context and by whom it is used. Our experts don't need a "grammar" tag, they'll write "directional use of the n-finajxo". You can use your corpus search for that too. Does your corpus search show that the ones that would be active on Stack Exchange would use "grammaticality" rather than "grammar"? I say they'd use "grammar".
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 16:17

4 Answers 4

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I would keep "grammar" and have the same description as in English SE.

This tag is for grammar questions, but only if you're not certain what other tag to use or if there aren't more specific tags that apply to the question. If possible, tag as tense, verb, articles, prepositions, or some other more specific tag or tags instead.

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  • Yes! I think this is ideal.
    – Neil Roberts Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 8:41
  • If you are not certain what other tag to use would also mean users who don't know there is verbs would be allowed to use it. It would be better to say use it if there aren't more specific tags that apply to the question.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:02
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    Sure. I don't mind that change. It's just important not to give people the feeling they need to read a manual before they're allowed to ask a question.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:13
  • So, I get you are saying grammar should be only used when we don't have a more specific tag, which also means it should not be used together other tags. Did I get it right?
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 13:35
  • Yes. That's it. We don't need to make it complicated. There might be situations where we can use it together with another tag, but generally not. Imagine a scenario with the tag "grammar" and "language evolution". That's okay. But not "grammar" and "semantics".
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 16:13
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I would prefer to keep the tag even if it is rather general because it is a nice catch-all tag for people who want to follow the technical questions as opposed to questions about the culture or asking for translations. For what it’s worth, both the English and French communities have the same tag.

In terms of the name I would prefer to keep it as simply because that is the more well-known word.

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    A lot of the time, a question is specifically about grammar. Then it makes total sense to have it.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 7:53
  • That is the exact reason not to have that tag: When a tag applies to 90% of the questions, it is pretty useless. See the network meta site for more about that.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 9:10
  • @kiamlaluno 90% is a gross exaggeration. Looking at the first page of 50 questions, only 32% of them are about grammar. busydoingnothing.co.uk/grammar-questions.html
    – Neil Roberts Mod
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 9:52
  • @NeilRoberts I was not referring to grammar, so I stand correct: Every tag that applies to 90% of the questions is pretty useless. I was replying to a lot time, a question is specifically about grammar. To me, a lot of time doesn't mean 32% of the questions, and I doubt that of all the questions (not just the ones on the first page), you could apply grammar to just the 32% of the questions.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 12:06
  • That is, if we give to grammar the following meaning: "the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics."
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 12:09
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    "Tags paint a broad swath. They were not meant to create a precise taxonomy that categorizes every question with academic precision." People are not going to use the grammar tag when they debate semantics.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 7:28
  • @CharlotteSL Tags are not that broad: When users tag a question with verbs it's because the question is about verbs, not because they think the answer to their question is a verb. Users will use grammar when the question is about grammar, which can as well include semantics.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 10:34
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    Just as in the English SE, there is the suggestion that people don't use "grammar" if there is a more suitable tag. If semantics is better, they should use semantics. But there is no reason not to have the tag grammar at all. Especially since it makes it easier for newbies to start participating.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:08
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I don't think we should have :

  • It may encourage proofreading, which is not a goal of the website
  • The word itself is not clear/common, so it may be misused. (I learned it today)
  • It is too broad. It is better to ask a question about the grammaticality of the question that uses correlatives with the tag . The asker should be able to see what elements of the language he is not sure of.
  • It is too common. It is extra work for users to add it to all questions about grammaticality.
  • I don't think it is helpful. Who would browse this tag? Esperanto is not a language with random grammatical exceptions. Every question about grammaticality can be divided in several questions about specific elements of the language.
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    I don't think it is clear to newbies - and especially people that aren't comfortable with linguistic terms - that "grammar" might not be suitable. People with more knowledge would use a specific term and people with less would use "grammar".
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 7:55
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    I agree that "grammaticality" should not be used. I've actually never even heard that word before. I'm definitely FOR using the "grammar" tag though and that is why I upvoted this.
    – Chuck Smith
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 11:47
  • @ChuckSmith Grammaticality: the state or quality of being grammatical.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 12:04
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    @kiamlaluno I know what it means now, but I've never seen it before joining this SE. It's very unfriendly toward language beginners and I'm vehemently opposed to it!
    – Chuck Smith
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 19:50
  • @ChuckSmith How can a word be unfriendly? It isn't offensive. Beginners doesn't mean I cannot learn a word more. Otherwise, we should stop using derivate words and talk as in Me likes.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 19:58
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    Words newbies need to learn should be useful and ideally in their target language. This is a word that native speakers don't use - unless they are linguists. The idea is to have a catch-all tag for insecure newbies that they can use and understand. "Grammar" is exactly what we are looking for in this case.
    – Charlotte SL
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 21:25
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We should discourage using as it does not provide valuable information about the content, and users may use it instead of using an useful one.

If a question is not about culture/history/esperanto-speakers/... it is almost certainly about grammar. If we want to keep all questions well-taged, we should add "grammar" to all of them, which is extra-work for no new relevant information.

If you fear people won't make a question because of the necessity of a tag, there are already other tags that are easy to understand and that adds relevant information. There is one for each kind of word, for example: for question involving an adverb (general rules, request, meaning ...).

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  • For what it’s worth, the description for the tag on the English SE is: “This tag is for grammar questions, but only if you're not certain what other tag to use. If possible, tag as tense, verb, articles, prepositions, or some other more specific tag or tags instead.” I guess that is similar to your proposal except that they haven’t actually deleted the tag.
    – Neil Roberts Mod
    Commented Sep 27, 2016 at 21:23
  • They didn't delete the tag because it is not possible. It needs to be removed from all the questions, or merged with another tag from moderators. (In the latter case, it would mean there is another tag that is used for the same exact questions using the first tag.) That is why it is better to avoid using a tag that then needs to be removed from all the questions using it.
    – avpaderno Mod
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 18:37

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