Three grammars that, since the 50's, have supplemented or offered alternatives to traditional grammar are discussed in this article. The role of grammar in communicative utterances and the underlying considerations in describing a grammatical system are analyzed. Then, brief summaries about and comments on structural linguistics, tagmemic grammar, and transformational generative grammar are presented. Distinctions are drawn between word- and sentence-based grammars, generative and taxonomic grammars, and deep and surface structures. The compatibility of the systems and the advantages of each for pedagogical use are taken up. Emphasis is placed on the necessity for testing every statement about the details of language against actual sentences accepted as normal by native speakers. (LH)