  Syntax: A systematic, orderly arrangement. when we're talking commands, syntax is the order in which we issue commands and arguments. for example, ls is the list command. if you use ls -l , then -l is your argument. notice there's a space between the command and the argument; ls-l (with no spaces) WILL NOT WORK! in fact, 9 times out of 10, the command will not work properly without proper spacing (there are always exceptions, but it's best practice to always space correctly). this is where syntax comes in. another example is the cat command. to create a text file and add text, you use the following command: cat > filename type in text here...blah blah blah...[ENTER] [CTRL+D] your command/argument line goes like this: cat [space] > [space] filename [ENTER] pipes need room to work, too: ls [space] -l [space] /usr/bin [space] | [space] less [ENTER] get comfortable with proper syntax, because we're about to dive into more commands! 
