While “grammar” is a universal linguistic concept, the nature of Chinese 语法 (yǔfǎ) reflects a different way of organizing information compared to English. Chinese grammar is highly contextual and pragmatic. Instead of changing the form of words (like “go,” “went,” “gone”), Chinese uses a stable core vocabulary and adds context through word order and functional particles (like 了 (le), 过 (guò)). This results in a “topic-prominent” structure, where the topic of the sentence is often stated first, followed by a comment about it. For example, “那本书我看过了” (nà běn shū wǒ kàn guò le) literally means “That book, I have read.” This structure prioritizes what is being discussed over who is doing the action. In contrast, English is a “subject-prominent” language, where the doer of the action (the subject) almost always comes first (“I have read that book”). This difference shows a focus in Chinese communication on establishing a shared topic or context before making a point. This can be seen as a reflection of a more collectivist or context-dependent communication style, where mutual understanding is established before details are delivered. Historically, formal grammatical analysis is a relatively modern field in China, largely influenced by Western linguistics. Traditional language education focused more on the memorization and imitation of classical texts, absorbing the “rules” through osmosis rather than explicit study.
语法 (yǔfǎ) is a term used almost exclusively in the context of learning or analyzing a language.
The term itself is neutral and technical. It's neither formal nor informal, but simply the correct word for “grammar.”