Parallelism Is Good

Parallelism:

Parallelism is a grammatical concept that involves using the same structure for two or more phrases or clauses in a sentence. It helps to make your writing more clear and cohesive by ensuring that ideas are presented in a logical and consistent manner. In these three following sentences, all verbs are in the infinitive form, making the structure parallel.

Examples:

  • "She likes to read, write, and draw."

  • "He likes to play soccer, basketball, and baseball."

  • "I like to swim, run, and hike."

Notice the pattern of (verb, verb, and verb)


Here are a few more examples of parallel structure:

  • "I like to eat pizza, tacos, and sandwiches."

  • "She likes to listen to pop, rock, and hip-hop music."

  • "He likes to watch action, comedy, and drama movies."

Notice the pattern of (noun, noun, and noun).

Tips:

Look for words that are in the same form and placed in the same position. For example, if the sentence begins with the words “I like to”, make sure that the rest of the sentence follows the same structure—“I like to read, watch, and play.” If the sentence instead reads “I like to read, watched, and playing”, then there is a parallelism error.

Three types to look out for: 

The first type of parallelism practice question is related to verb tenses. For example, take a look at this sentence: "I like to running and play soccer." In this sentence, the verb "like" is in the present tense, while "running" and "play" are in the present participle form. To make this sentence parallel, it should be changed to: "I like to run and play soccer."

The second type of parallelism practice questions involves using correlative conjunctions. Correlative conjunctions are pairs of words that connect two parallel phrases or clauses. For example, take a look at this sentence: "I bought a new car, and it is big." In this sentence, the word "and" is a correlative conjunction that is connecting two phrases. To make this sentence parallel, it should be changed to: "I bought a new car that is big."

The third type of parallelism practice questions involves using parallel lists. A parallel list is when two or more items in a list are written in the same format. For example, take a look at this sentence: "I like to eat pizza, ice cream, and hamburgers." In this sentence, the items in the list are not in the same format. To make this sentence parallel, it should be changed to: "I like to eat pizza, ice cream, and hamburgers."


Links: 

(1 min) A Youtube Short example: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QTGajmWKhDY

(3 min) Parallel structure examples: 


(5 min) Parallel structures with lists: