PARALLELISM

PARALLELISMOR PARALLEL STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES

matching of grammatical structures in a sentence.

It lends a rhythm, a refinement to what is being written and helps avoid repetition.

NOT SO GOOD

Sam has a pen in his bag.

Sam has a pencil in his bag.

Sam has two books in his bag.

BETTER

Sam has a pen, a pencil and two books in his bag.

WORDS USED TO DESCRIBE IDENTICAL CONCEPTS SHOULD BE GRAMMATICALLY IDENTICAL.

Reena is a good dancer but average at acting. Not Parallel

Reena is a good dancer but an average actor.

Reena is good at dancing but average at acting.

Parallelism requires that nouns should be similar to nouns, gerunds with gerunds, participles with participles and so on.

It requires that ideas or concepts should be put together using the same structure.

NOUNS:

Tom is known for his honesty and original ideas. (Χ)

Tom is known for his honesty and originality. (√)

VERBS:

My previous company has moved and is selling their office space. (Χ)

My previous company has moved and sold their office space. (√)

My previous company is moving and selling their office space. (√)

ADJECTIVES:

She is charming, courteous and a beauty. (Χ)

She is charming, courteous and beautiful.(√)

ADVERBS:

Sam does his work neatly and with care. (Χ)

Sam does his work neatly and carefully. (√)

FIVE RULES1) BE CAREFUL WHILE USING COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS.

To lead a healthy life, sleep for eight hours and eating a balanced diet are important. (Χ)

To lead a healthy life, it is important to sleep for eight hours and eat a balanced diet. (√)

To lead a healthy life, sleeping for eight hours and eating a balanced diet are important. (√)

 

2) OBSERVE PARALLEL STRUCTURE WHEN ELEMENTS ARE IN A LIST OR IN A SERIES.

Traditional societies believed the king to be a religious, a political, a social and head of the military forces. (Χ)

Traditional societies believed the king to be a religious, political, social and a military head. (√)

 

3) OBSERVE PARALLEL STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES WHILE COMPARING ELEMENTS.

I like to read books over watching movies. (Χ)

I like reading books over watching movies. (√)

4) PARALLEL STRUCTURE HAS TO BE OBSERVED WHEN ELEMENTS ARE JOINED BY A LINKING VERB OR ANY FORM OF ‘BE’.

‘To succeed is thriving ’- is our motto. (Χ)

‘To succeed is to thrive’- is our motto. (√)

5) PARALLEL STRUCTURE IS ALSO TO BE OBSERVED WHILE USING CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS.

Sweena wants both a satisfying job and that pays well. (Χ)

Sweena wants both a satisfying and a well paying job. (√)

REFERENCES

Geraldine Woods (2006): English Grammar Workbook For Dummies. Indiana: Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Parallel Form; http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/parallelism.htm

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