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Parallelism

Parallelism is used to match the grammatical form of words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence to improve clarity. Items joined by coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, or comparative expressions must be parallel. Non-parallel constructions can be corrected by making each element a subordinate clause with words like "because". Lists and series should also use parallel grammatical forms for consistency.

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Cheryl Demafiles
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83 views10 pages

Parallelism

Parallelism is used to match the grammatical form of words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence to improve clarity. Items joined by coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, or comparative expressions must be parallel. Non-parallel constructions can be corrected by making each element a subordinate clause with words like "because". Lists and series should also use parallel grammatical forms for consistency.

Uploaded by

Cheryl Demafiles
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Parallelism

parallelism
Parallelism is the matching of the forms of words,
phrases, or clauses within a sentence. Editing your work
for parallel construction improves clarity and
emphasizes your points.

Rule to Remember
Conjoined items in a sentence must be in the same
grammatical form, i.e. grammatically parallel.

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Conjoined items in a sentence must be in the
same grammatical form.

Incorrect: I like to jog and walking.

In the above sentence, to jog and walking are not


parallel in grammatical construction.

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Correcting Faulty Parallelism
To avoid faulty parallelism, the sentence above should be
corrected to:

Correct: I like jogging and walking.

Words, phrases, and clauses joined by a coordinating


conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet ) need to have parallel
grammatical construction.
Incorrect: We all need good nutrition and to exercise on a
regular basis.

Correct: We all need good nutrition and regular exercise.

4
Words, phrases, and clauses joined by a correlative
conjunction (not only... but also, both... and, either... or,
neither... nor) need to have parallel grammatical
construction.
Incorrect: like both to read books and watching
movies.

Correct: like both to read books and to watch movies.

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Words, phrases, and clauses joined by
a comparative expression (as much as, more
than, less than) need to have parallel grammatical
construction.

Incorrect: enjoy going out to a movie as much as I


like to rent a movie and stay home to watch
it.

Correct: enjoy going out to a movie as much as I


enjoy renting a movie and staying home to
watch it.

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In the following example, inserting because before each
of the elements makes each point a subordinate
adverbial clause and adds to the clarity of the whole
sentence.
Incorrect: Many people maintain a healthy diet because they want to look
healthy, it increases their energy, and they want to live longer.

Correct: Many people maintain a healthy diet because they want to look
healthy, because it increases their energy, and because they want
to live longer.

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Words, phrases, and clauses in a series should be
parallel in grammatical construction.
Incorrect: He is smart, honest, and has a great sense of
responsibility.

Correct: He is smart, honest, and very responsible.

8
Items in a bulleted list should also be parallel in
their grammatical form. For example,
Incorrect: • Set up your own wiki:
Explore sample wiki sites
• Creating an account on free hosting services
• Selecting a wiki name
• How to choose privacy options
• Creating and customizing your wiki site

9
Correct: • Set up your own wiki:
Explore sample wiki sites
• Create an account on free hosting services
• Select a wiki name
• Choose privacy options
• Create and customize your wiki site

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