Logos Grammar: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know what logos grammar is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on logos grammar, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

Your writing, at its best

Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant

What is logos grammar?

According to Your Dictionary, logos is a type of rhetorical appeal. These are also called Aristotle’s “modes for persuasion” and include pathos and ethos. They are often used in speech writing and advertising to persuade others to believe a particular point of view. While pathos uses rhetoric to create an appeal of emotion and ethos is an appeal to ethics, logos uses logic for persuasion. Logos, a Greek word, often shows up in a classical argument or instruction in the form of facts and statistics. This Latin technique attempts to show proof and deduction in English sentences, rather than creating an emotion like pity. 

Logos is also a Logos School developed by Matt Whitling, author of the Imitation in Writing Series, is a pioneer in Classical and Christian education. They provide weekly worksheets, speller features, and easy instructions for the entire year to help transition students between grades.

What are examples of logos?

Logos can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! The following sentences are examples of logos from Literary Devices and Writing Explained  that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term logos today or notice when someone else is using logos.

  •  “The data is perfectly clear: this investment has consistently turned a profit year-over-year, even in spite of market declines in other areas.”
  •  “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: we have not only the fingerprints, the lack of an alibi, a clear motive, and an expressed desire to commit the robbery… We also have video of the suspect breaking in. The case could not be more open and shut.”
  •  The ideal candidate has decades of experience and a tireless commitment to the public service of the people of this community. Therefore, the person who has worked in a federal government nonprofit is perfect to bring us peace of mind.
  •  “It’s a matter of common sense that people deserve to be treated equally. The Constitution calls it ‘self-evident.’ Why, then, should I have been denied a seat because of my disability?”
  •  “More than one hundred peer-reviewed studies have been conducted over the past decade, and none of them suggests that this is an effective treatment for hair loss.”
  •  The United States has the highest corporate income tax in the world.  Our own small businesses cannot compete with such a relatively high tax burden. Therefore, the government should lower corporate income tax rates.
  •  Mom explaining why you need to do your homework before bedtime
  •  A newspaper columnist commenting on the day’s events
  •  An engineer explaining a need for new equipment,
  •  “History has shown time and again that absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
  •  “Private demand for the product has tapered off for the past three years, and this year’s sales figures are at an all-time low. It’s time to research other options.”
  •  “The algorithms have been run in a thousand different ways, and the math continues to check out.”
  •  “You won’t find any deer along this road. In 25 years of driving the same route, I haven’t seen a single one.”
  •  Let me start with the economy, and a basic fact: The United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We’re in the middle of the longest streak of private sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs, the strongest two years of job growth since the ‘90s, an unemployment rate cut in half. Our auto industry just had its best year ever. That’s just part of a manufacturing surge that’s created nearly 900,000 new jobs in the past six years. And we’ve done all this while cutting our deficits by almost three-quarters. – Barack Obama
  •  “He has a track record of success with this company, culminating in some of our most acclaimed architecture to date and earning us Firm of the Year nine times in a row.”
  •  “Research compiled by analysts from NASA, as well as organizations from five other nations with space programs, suggests that a moon colony is viable with international support.”
  •  “Veterinarians say that a German Shepherd will are the perfect match for people with active lifestyles.”
  •  “Doctors all over the world recommend this type of treatment.”
  •  “The wage system has made people believe that what a man needs is work. This, of course, is absurd. What he needs is the goods produced by
  •  work, and the less work involved in making a given amount of goods,
  •  the better … But owing to our economic system …where a better system would
  •  produce only an increase of wages or a diminution in the hours of work
  •  without any corresponding diminution of wages.” – Political Ideals (By Bertrand Russell)
  •  “All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.” – The Art of Rhetoric (By Aristotle)
  •  “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” – Of Studies (By Francis Bacon)
  •  “Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.” – Of Studies (By Francis Bacon)
  •  “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!/It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/The meat it feeds on …/Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger,/But, oh, what damnèd minutes tells he o’er/Who dotes, yet doubts —suspects, yet soundly loves …/She did deceive her father, marrying you …/She loved them most …/I humbly do beseech you of your pardon/For too much loving you …” – Othello (By William Shakespeare)

Overall, logos is a rhetorical appeal to logic.

Sources:

  1. The Grammar of Spelling: Grade 2 | Logos School 
  2. Examples of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos | Your Dictionary 
  3. Logos – Definition and Examples of Logos | Literary Devices
  4. What is Logos? Definition, Examples of Logos in Literature | Writing Explained