Syntactic cues refer to a reader's ability to use knowledge about which aspects?

• A. Recognize rhythm or meter
• B. Sentence structure and oral language structures
• C. Memorize words by sight
• D. Sound-letter relationships

Answer: (B)

Syntactic cues come from knowing how sentences are built: the order of words, how parts of speech relate, and how clauses and phrases connect. This awareness helps a reader parse sentences, predict what will come next, and understand who is doing what to whom. It also includes familiar patterns from spoken language that show up in writing, like subject-verb-object order and adjectives that come before a noun. The other aspects involve rhythm or meter (prosody), recognizing words by sight, or linking sounds to letters—things that influence reading in different ways, not through sentence structure and grammar. This focus on how sentences are formed and how language is organized is what makes syntactic cues work.