Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
Deep structure refers to the underlying meaning or representation of a sentence before it is transformed into its surface structure. It represents the essential elements and relationships within a sentence.
Related terms
Surface Structure: The actual form or arrangement of words in a sentence.
Generative Grammar: A linguistic framework focused on generating possible sentences from abstract syntactic structures.
Syntactic Structures: Rules governing word order and phrase formation in a language.