Pararellism

For us to easily understand English, why will we not make it simple. Our lesson for today is all
about, Parallelism. But first let’s have a definition of term.
Do you have any idea What is Parallel? When we hear the word Parallel, we probably think
about math, right? Like the parallel lines, am I right? The concept here is actually kind of the
same.
When we say Parallel, it is an adjective that means being everywhere equidistant. In math,
parallel are two lines that follow the same path without touching and pretty much look the
same. But you all worry, we will not be tackling about math today. Because believe it or not,
that's basically the same way it works with grammar.
Now, let us focus to the definition of Parallelism. Parallelism in English grammar is also known
as parallel structure. Parallel structure is when all of the words and phrases in a sentence follow
the same pattern, so to speak—they're written the same way. In its most basic usage,
Parallelism provides clarity and balance to phrases. It also serves phrases a pattern and a
rhythm. It is also the repetition of three or more parts of the sentence.
Now let’s look at a really basic example.
Which word among the following has a different form?

dig, cook, dance, singing

Which is in different form with these words? Singing, it is. Not only that it is the only
word in -ing form but we can’t also deny that the rest were in their base form of verb.
Now, to make “singing” parallel to rest of the words. We just need to change its form to
make it similar to the others to change it base or basic form or also known as infinitive
verb.

dig, cook, dance, sing

Now they all have the same form.

Now let’s try with these group of words;

locked, ate, took, looked, waits, ran

The word that has different form among these words were “waits”, because it is the only
word in simple singular form. While the rest of the words were all in past form. To make
it parallel like the rest of the words were so simple, turn the word that differ into its past
form. Now we have.
 locked, ate, took, looked, waited, ran

We can already tell that they are all in parallel structure.

beautiful, simple, intelligent, actively, lazy

The word “actively” is the one that differ, because it is an adverb, while the rest of the
words are adjectives. To make it parallel, let’s make it as.

beautiful, simple, intelligent, active, lazy

These are the example of adjective that used to describe a noun or a pronoun.

This time from group of words, let’s try applying it into sentences.
Which sentence has a parallel structure?

a. I like to jog, bake, paint, and watch movies.

b. I like to jog, bake, paint, and watching movies.
c. I like jogging, baking, painting, and watching movies.

Take a closer look in each sentence, observe if there’s a pattern. Sentence A and C, has parallel
structure, because of its word pattern. In sentence A, the verbs jog, bake, paint, and watch are
in its base or infinitive form. When we say infinitive form, this is a form of verb that usually
preceded by the word “to”, like “to jog”, “to bake”, “to paint”, and “to watch”. But is not always
precent by “to”, that’s why “jog” is infinitive similar to “to jog”. They are all verbs in infinitive
form, which means nothing odd. And they have similar pattern, that’s why we can say that it’s
parallel.
Now let’s move on to sentence C, they are all parallel. Obviously, the words, “jogging, baking,
painting, and watching”, all in -ing form.
And lastly sentence B, just look at those words. All words were in infinitive form, while watching
which an -ing form.

Remember:
When a series is composed of verbs, do not mix forms. For example, mixing an infinitive (that
begins with “to”) with a gerund (ends in -ing) breaks parallel structure. In short, they should be
in a similar form.
Parallel word, on the word level, a noun should be grouped with other nouns, an adjective with
other adjectives, and so on. Take a closer look with these sentences.
a. The company is looking for a candidate who is friendly, organized, meticulous, and is
going to arrive to work on time.
b. The company is looking for a candidate who is friendly, organized, meticulous, and
punctual.
Sentence A is not a parallel, and sentence B a parallel sentence. As the words friendly,
organized, meticulous are all adjectives because they are used to describe the relative pronoun
“who” which refers to the noun candidate. Meaning, the three words have the same
grammatical structure. While “is going to arrive to work on time” is obviously different because
it is a verb phrase, as it is expressing an idea that will going to happen in the future. Whereas,
when you are going to replace it with the word “punctual”, like in sentence B, which is also an
adjective. And the same definition with the said phrase would make the sentence have a
parallel structure. Because all words used were adjectives.

Parallel Phrases, parallel structures should be used to balance a series of phrases with the same
grammatical structure. For example, avoid mixing noun phrases with verb phrases.
a. Initial trials showed that exposure to the chemical caused memory problems,
intermittent dizziness, and prevents sleep.
b. Initial trials showed that exposure to the chemical caused memory problems,
intermittent dizziness, and insomnia.
Is sentence A, a parallel? No, memory problems, intermittent dizziness, are both noun phrase
whereas prevents sleep a verb phrase. There’s one that differ, that’s why it’s not parallel. While
in sentence B, is of course a parallel given that “insomnia” is a noun.

Parallel Clauses, parallelism is also applicable to a series of clauses in a sentence.

a. The report card stated that the student often talked in class, that he bullied other
students, and rarely finished his homework.
b. The report card stated that the student often talked in class, that he bullied other
students, and that rarely finished his homework.
Sentence B, is parallel because “that the student often talked in class, that he bullied other
students, and that rarely finished his homework”. We call them “that clause”. And sentence A,
not a parallel obviously because the sentence “rarely finished his homework” doesn’t start with
“that” instead it starts with an adverb, so we call it “adverbial clause”.
Parallel Construction in pairs, use parallel construction when a sentence contains a pair of
connected ideas. Pairs can be connected by coordinating conjunction, which include and, nor,
but, or, and yet.
a. She planned to collect data by either using an online survey or phone interviews.
b. She planned to collect data by either using an online survey or conducting phone
interviews.
c. She planned to collect data through either online surveys or phone interviews.
In these examples, always remember that you should not mix verb phrases and noun phrases to
make the sentence parallel.

Remember:
Use parallel construction when a pair of ideas are linked by correlative conjunction, such as not
only, but also, either..or, and neither…nor.
a. His paper argues that the distinctive divergence in the two artists’ styles was not only
shaped by their mutual rivalry but also because of the idiosyncratic tastes of patrons.
b. His paper argues that the distinctive divergence in the two artists’ styles was not only by
their mutual rivalry but also by the idiosyncratic tastes of patrons.
The same rule applies to pairs connected by a word of comparison, such as over, than, or as.

List after a colon (:), a list that follows a colon should always have parallel elements. Now this
time read the given sentences silently and try to find out what makes the sentence A not
parallel while the sentences B and C parallel.
a. Mainstream economists have attributed the recession to several key causes:
deregulation policies, spike in interest rates, manufacturing orders declining, and the
emergence of asset bubbles.
b. Mainstream economists have attributed the recession to several key causes: the
enactment deregulation policies, the spike in interest rates, the decline in manufacturing
orders, and the emergence of asset bubbles.
c. Mainstream economists have attributed the recession to several key causes:
deregulation policies, high interest rates, low manufacturing orders, and the asset
bubbles.

Note: Maintaining parallel structure helps you avoid grammatically incorrect sentences and
improves your writing style. Although lack of parallelism is not always strictly incorrect,
sentences with parallel structure are easier to read, and add a sense of balance to your
writing.