EN
The aim of the article is to discuss changes which should be introduced in teaching syntax at school. The author claims that a new description of syntax should be based both on the form and on the function of syntactic units. It is necessary to introduce a unit which is higher than the word and lower than the clause, i.e. the phrase. The following syntactic phenomena should be taught at school (apart from coordination and subordination): valency and syntactic accommodation. In the author’s opinion the distinction of parts of the clause should be analysed but their definitions should predominantly be based on formal criteria.