MEETING I

PARALLEL STRUCTURE

A. THE AIM OF LECTURING

This section will talk about parallel structure using coordinating conjunction; and, but,
and or, and correlative conjunctions; either...or, neither...nor, not only... but also, both...and,
and whether...or. After studying this lesson the students suppose to be able to:

• Show how to create parallel structure sentences in diffrent parts of speech.

• Use the correct parallel structure using correlative conjunctions..

B. DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL

What is Parallel Structure?

Parallel structure is sometimes calledparallel contruction and parallelism.

Parallelism means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more words or
elements or ideas in a sentence has the same level of importance and to help the reader
comprehend what is being written..

When using parallel structure, the items in the list must be all nouns, all infinitives,
all prepositional phrases, all gerunds, or all clauses, and so on.

A good writer uses parallelism to create clear and concise sentences, and also to
reduce the work that the reader must do to understand the author's meaning. Having parallel
structure becomes even more significant when two or more ideas are to be presented as
having equal importance.

For example:
• Dorothy survived a tornado, crash-landed in a foreign land, travelled across a vast
countryside, and defeated an evil witch.
With parallel structure, the reader can quickly process information and see
relationships between ideas. Strong writers use parallel structure to organize words, phrases,
clauses, and even whole essays to guide readers through their ideas.
 A parallel structure that begins with clauses must keep on with clauses, and also for
the other parts of speech. Changing to another pattern or changing the voice of the verb
(from active to passive or vice versa) will break the parallelism.

For example:

• The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not eat too much, and do
some warm-up exercises before the game.

It is important to note that, when ever you include a list of actions or items, you
must use equal grammatical units. If the first item is a noun then the following items must
also be nouns,it is needed to complete the idea of the sentence. If the first action is a simple
past tense verb, and then make the other items simple past tense verbs as well. To establish
parallelism, you should use all elements in the same tenses.

For examples:
• Professor Jones not onlywill give the class a withering look but alsowill assign them 20
extra pages of homework as punishment for their impatience to leave.

Sentence elements that are alike in function should also be alike in construction.
These elements should be in the same grammatical form so that they are parallel. series
whose components are not in parallel format sounds awkward and may cause
misunderstanding. The following are kinds of parallel structure.

• The first aim of lecturing: Show how to create parallel using coordinating conjuctions..
Use parallel structure with elements joined by coordinating conjunction especially and,
but, and or

Coordinating conjuctions indicate parallel ideas. When a reader sees a

coordinating conjunction, he assumes that what comes immediately after the
conjunction is logically parallel to what goes immediately before the conjuction. Of
course in a series of items;a series is a group of three or more elements in a row. The
last element in the series is connected to the others with one of these coordinating
conjunctions: and, or, but (not),or yet (not).
 It is important to know the rules for comma and semicolons when using parallel
structure. Commas usually take the place of the conjunction and (except between the
last two items). Commas should be placed between each element in the series and
before the coordinating conjunction. There fore, we expect all the other items in the
series to be structurally parallel. If the first item is a noun, we expect all the other items
in the series to be nouns, if the first item is a gerund, we expect all the other items to be
gerunds, etc. In order to maintain parallel structure make sure that you do not mix
grammatical forms.When elements in a series do not have the same form, the sentence
will sound awkward and out of balance. Some examples can illustrate this point:

• The following activities can be done at the shopping center: buying groceries,
eating lunch or paying your bill.

• Dogs are great pets for the following reasons: they are loyal, they love and they are
obedient. This is correct and uses parallel structure.

Ø Parallel Words.
All items in a series should have the same structure to help the reader quickly
process information. If one element is an adjective, then all elements should be
adjectives; if one element is a noun, then all elements should be nouns; if one element
is a verb, then all elements should be verbs, and so forth.
When you have items on a list following a colon, the items should all be in
the same form in order to avoid a parallel structure error.It is grammatically correct to
ensure that phrases, clauses and items on a list after a colon use the correct parallel
structure. Take a look at the examples below:

• Examples of parallel using nouns

- In your classroom, you can find the following: a table, a white board and
achair
• Examples of parallel using verbs
- My English lecturer often asks us to write, read or speak in English.

• Examples of parallel using adjectives

 - The film Some Like it Hotis funny, well-written, and daring for its time. (
adjectives)

• Examples of parallel using gerunds (words in bold type)

-. Thinking and running often accompany one another as I exercise.
- I do not enjoy thinking or running

• Examples of parallel using infinitive to

- She needs to listen and to write the lyric of that new song
- There was no opportunity to do my taxes, to request an extenson, or to
explain my situation

• Examples of parallel usingadverd of manner:

- Mary wanted to make sure that she made her presentation creatively,
effectively and persuasively.

Ø Parallel Phrases and Clauses.

Phrases and clauses also need to be parallel if the sentence is to be logical,

balanced, and easy to read. If one item in a series is a prepositional phrase, then
every item should be prepositional phrase; if one item in a series is a verb phrase
(beginning with an -ing or -ed verb), then every item in the series should be a
verbal phrase; if one item is a relative clause, then every item should be a relative
clause.

Consider the following examples demonstrating good parallel structure:

• Examples of parallel using phrases
- He loves traveling around the world and climbing the mountain (gerund
phrase)
- The students can read books or borrow books from the library. (verb phrase)
- We can put our agenda book on the desk or in the drawer (prepositional
phrase)

- My sister, my brother and my friend study in the same university with me.
(noun phrase)
 - To escape the mob and to solvetheir financial problems, Joe and Jerry join
anall-girl band. (infinitive phrases)

• Examples of parallel using clauses:

- Please submit your task after we have break or when your class is over.

- All the students wondered who he was and what he was doing here.

- The company doesn’t care about who you are, how you got there, or whyyou
have come

- The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should
not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the
game.

• The second aim of lecturing: Use the correct parallel structure using correlative
conjunctions
2. Use parallel structure with elements joined by a correlative conjunction.
Elements following correlative conjunctions are; not only ... but also, either ...
or, neither ... nor, both .... and, should be parallel in form, and all require special
attention when you are proofreading for parallelism. Each member of correlative
conjunction should be placed immediately before a parallel element. These correlative
conjunctions require equal grammatical units after both parts of the conjunction. Those
Correlative conjunctions above work in pairs. You have to remember its each pair, so
you have to be careful with correlative conjunctions.

Whatever grammatical structure follows one must be parallel to the grammatical

structure that follows the other, in continuous, present, past, future, or perfect tense.
Below are examples of parallel structure using different kind of correlative
conjunctions.

• Examples with either.......or

- We should speak to every one either politely or nicely.

- The IT students can study either in the classroom or in the laboratory room
- This ticket permits you to sit either on the main floor or in the balcony
 - Either you are for us or you are against us.

• Examples with neither .......nor

- He was neither going to classes nor doing the assignments.
- Neither the lecturers nor the students are always come late to campus
- My friend is neither a Democrat nor a Republican

• Examples with both ......and

- I would like both to buy a new laptop and to purchase a new computer
- The show is both enjoyable and educational
- My uncle likes both eating in expensive restaurants and visiting musiums

Both buying groceries and eating lunch with friends are activities that can
be done at the shopping center,

• Examples with not only .....but also

- Clara wants not onlycomputerbut alsolaptop.(nouns)
- As young recruits, we were told not only what to do but also what to think
(clause)
- The student hoped not only to sing a song in the seminar but also to play
guitar there. (infinitive to)
- Not onlydid Professor Jones give the class a withering look,
buthealsoassigned 20 extra pages of homework as punishment for their
impatience to leave.

• Examples with whether .....or

- My friends never judged me whether my words or my actions
- Professor Jones gave the class whethera withering lookor 20 extra pages of

homework as punishment for their impatience to leave.

- The frustrated customer wanted whether to obtain a refund or to speak to the

manager.

3. Use parallel structure with elements being compared. (X is more than/better than Y)
 When we compare things, we often use words such as more, less, better, and
worse, We connect the items being compared with words like as and than.Comparing
items without using parallel structure may cause confusion about what is being
compared to what.

Ø Note the comparison methods in the examples below.

The elements being compared are parallel to one another:

• Drivingto New York can actually take less time than flying there flying
• Miriam's ability to come up with project far exceeded her resolve to work on them.
• How you live your life is just as important as how much money you make.
• I like swimming better than diving
• The programmer wants fame than money
• The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep better than to do some
warm-up exercises before the game.

4. Use parallel structure with elements joined by a linking verb or a verb of being.

Joining elements with linking verbs or verbs of being suggests a completing of

the first item by the second one. Often, in fact, anequality between the two is being set
up, as the examples below illustrate.
- What you see is what you get
- Being Jim’s friend means being constantly alert
- To know her is to lover her
- Succeeding is opening a new opportunity

Ø A parallelism diagram helps you see whether or not items are parallel.

Not parallel :
Jeff likes fishing (gerund)
swimming (gerund)
and to hike (infinitive)
 Parallel:
Jeff likes fishing (gerund)
Swimming (gerund)
and hiking(gerund)

Ø When checking for parallelism, look at the first word or phrase in each item. If each
item begins with the same kind of word or phrase, you can be sure that the items are
parallel even if the other parts of each item differ.

• All the examples below are parallel, even though the items may not be the same
length. The first word or phrase in each item is what determines parallelism, not the
length of the items.

- Chilcren are to honor their parents and to obey them whether or not they
understand why they are asked to do something

- Jeff fishes for pleasure, swim to stay in condition, and hikes to get away from
cicilization for a while.
C. EXERCISES

I. The following sentences are parallel structure, identify what the type of series the
sentence contains: nouns, verb, adjectives, adverbs, infinitive to, prepositional
phrase, verb phrase, gerund phrase, or gerunds

1. This ticket permits you to sit either on the main floor or in the balcony

2. Good students should not only come on time, do all the tasks but also obey the
lecturers.

3. Some students of this campus reading for pleasure, swimming to stay in

condition, and hiking to get away from civilization for a while.

4. If you want to get an A, you must either pay attention to your lecturers or do all
your assignments.

5. My mother and my grandmother learned to knit, to crochet, and to sew.

6. The benefits of computer for us are not only for the information technology but
also for any business.

7. The company promised that the salaries of the employees would be improved
and increased of working conditions.

8. Computer has multi functions for examples: to type any kind of paper woks and
to print any kind of documents.

9. Computer is a magical typewriter that allows us to type letters, memos, or legal

documents

10. The most common input devices are the mouse and the keyboard

11. In the class, we have to pay attention and to listen to our lecturer

12. He found cleaning suplies in the closet, under the sink, but not in the garage.

13. She wanted three things: flasdisk, laptop and computer.

14. Ashley likes to ski, to swim and to jump.

 15. People who get ahead do lots of different things such as: studying, working hard
and going to college.

II. Make the parallel structure based on the following patterns.

1. Subject + verb + not only + noun + but also + noun

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2. Subject + to be + adjective + adjective + conjunction + adjective
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3. Subject + verb + not only + adverb + but also adverb
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4. Subject + verb + both + noun + and + noun
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5. Subject + to be + neither + adjective + nor + adjective
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6. Subject + modal + not only + verb phrase + but also + verb phrase
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7. Subject + verb + either + noun + or + noun
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8. Subject + to be + gerund + conjunction + gerund
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9. Subject + verb phrase + infinitive to + conjunction + infinitive to
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10. Subject + verb + not only + prep.phrase + but also + prep.phrase
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11. Subject + verb + noun + noun + conjunction + noun
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12. Subject + modal + verb + conjunction + verb
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13. Subject + verb + gerund + gerund + conjunction + gerund
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14. Neither + noun + nor + noun + verb phrase
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15. Either + noun + or + noun + to be + prep. phrase.
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III. (1) Circle the coordinating conjunctions and the commas that stand between logically
parallel items. (2) Underline these items. (3) Rewrite the sentences, making each
item structurally parallel.

1. Mowing lawns, weding gardens, and to run errands are the ways Jay earned
money for his week at Sofware camp.
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2. Since coming to our club, Coach Jacobs has taught us how to play as a team
instead of as individuals and the way of outsmarting opponent.
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3. The conductor’s job includes keeping the players together, shaping the tempo of
the music, and the control of the loudness of the orchestra.
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4. The company promised that salaries would be increased and improvement of
working conditions
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5. The grand mother learned knitting, crocheting, and how to sew.
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6. That you are a sinner and your need of the savior are two important truths you
must face.
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IV. On a separate sheet of paper, draw paralleliem diagram of the following sentences.

1. Two large land purchases by the United States were the Louisiana Purchase in
1803 and the Atlanta Purchase in 1867.
2. The economy of our young nation was aided by interior expansion, mineral
discovery, improved manufacturing techniques, and transportation development.
 3. To see the Grand Canyon, to visit Yosemite, and to drive through the Rocky
Mountains are all part of Mr. Olsen’s retirement plans.
4. The May figures showed that profits were up, that expenses were down, and that
employee absenteeism had declined by twenty percent.
5. Children are to honour their parents and to obey them whether or not they
understand why they are asked to do something.

V. Create your own parallel structure with elements being compared and elements
joined by a linking verb or a verb of being, three sentences for each.
D. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Book
Azar, Betty, Understanding and using English Grammar, New Jersey, Prentice Hall (1989)

Taylor, Grant, Mastering American English, San Fransisco, McGraw-Hill Book Company,
Inc. (1956)

Remacha Esteras, Santiago, English for Computer Users, Cambridge, Cambridge

University Press (2008)

Broukal, Milada, Toefl Test Assistant Grammar, Heinle & Heinle Publishers (1995)

Widodo, Edi R, Bahasa Inggris – Seri Diktat Kuliah, Penerbit Gunadarma (1996)