The implicit structure of human language is characterized by knowledge that is

• A. Explicitly taught
• B. Explicitly verbalized
• C. Implicit and known without explicit knowledge of how we do it
• D. Not studied scientifically

Answer: (C)

Language knowledge is largely implicit. People can judge grammaticality and produce novel sentences without being able to articulate the exact rules that govern them. This internal grasp, often called tacit or implicit knowledge, guides fluency and comprehension from exposure and use rather than formal instruction. You can say whether a sentence sounds right even if you can’t explain the rule that makes it right, and you can create sentences you’ve never seen before because your mind applies an unconscious structural sense of what is allowed in the language. While explicit grammar lessons can help, they don’t capture this automatic, unconscious knowledge that underpins everyday language use. And language is indeed studied scientifically, so the choice that language isn’t studied would be incorrect.