Maybe you’ve seen it as an illustration of the wackiness of English:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

That is a grammatically correct English sentence. Now, I’m pretty good at this English grammar thing, but it took me quite a while to understand exactly how this series of buffaloes could possibly express a genuine grammatical thought. But eventually I figured it out. And now I’m here to help you. Read on — this is sure to make you a hit at parties.

First, understand the different uses of the word buffalo.

Buffalo, the Noun.

Of course it’s a noun. That’s the most obvious. It’s the big animal once hunted by plains Indians. Be aware that there are two acceptable plural forms of buffalo: buffaloes and buffalo. All the noun uses in this sentence are plural.

Buffalo, the Proper Adjective

Buffalo is also the name of a city in New York. A dentist from that city might be referred to as a Buffalo dentist. And, of course, a buffalo from Buffalo would be known as a Buffalo buffalo. That’s a key piece of this puzzle. Notice that this use of buffalo requires capitalization.

Buffalo, the Verb

To buffalo means to overawe or intimidate. A pushy salesman might buffalo you into buying encyclopedias you don’t really need.

Color Coding

To help you understand the different buffaloes used in this sentence, I’ll put the noun buffaloes in red, the adjective buffaloes in blue, and the verb buffaloes in green:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Get it now? Okay, maybe not.

Parsing the Sentence

Let’s try breaking it down into grammatical parts.

First, every time you see the capitalized Buffalo, it’s an adjective modifying the ensuing noun. Three times this sentence refers to Buffalo buffalo, which means a buffalo from Buffalo.

The first Buffalo buffalo is the subject of the sentence. Following that is a relative clause that modifies the subject: Which Buffalo buffalo? The Buffalo buffalo that Buffalo buffalo buffalo. In fact, you could insert the relative pronoun that to make it clearer:

Buffalo buffalo that Buffalo buffalo buffalo…

The next buffalo is the simple predicate or main verb. It’s what the original Buffalo buffalo do. They buffalo.

The final Buffalo buffalo pairing is the direct object of the word buffalo. It’s what the Buffalo buffalo buffalo. They buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Clear as mud, right?

Rewording the Whole Thing

If you are still lost, don’t worry. It will all make sense here. I just thought I’d drag it out a bit.

Here’s what the sentence is saying, replacing the verb buffalo with the verb bamboozle and adding several other clarifying words.

Buffalo from Buffalo that other buffalo from Buffalo bamboozle, bamboozle still other buffalo from Buffalo.

It’s a nonsense sentence of course. No one is suggesting that it is a reasonable statement. Just that it is grammatically sound.

Now, replace buffalo from Buffalo with Buffalo buffalo:

Buffalo buffalo that other Buffalo buffalo bamboozle, bamboozle other Buffalo buffalo.

Now get rid of the clarifying but unnecessary words that and other:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo bamboozle, bamboozle Buffalo buffalo.

Finally, replace bamboozle with the verb buffalo.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

The comma helps and should probably be inserted all the time, but that just makes it too easy!

One more thing to help you if you are still confused. The sentence is in the same grammatical form as this one:

Alaskan people Alaskan people love, love Alaskan people.

That’s the best I can do. I hope somewhere in this discussion it came into focus for you!

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