Parallelism

“There never were, since the creation of the world, two

cases exactly parallel.” – Lord Chesterfield, 1694 – 1773

“Obviously Lord Chesterfield didn’t take Expository

Writing.” – Mrs. Manny Brown, 1974 -
Parallelism
•Parallel structures use a
repeating pattern of words to
indicate that the words,
phrases, or clauses are of the
same level of importance.
•The most common way to join
parallel structures is with a
coordinating conjunction like
“and” or “or.”
Parallelism: Words
• The Ironman includes swimming,
bicycling, and running.
• Be sure to bring with you a book, pen,
calendar, and binder.
In these sentences, the repeating
structure – the parallel element – is in
the form of a single word.
Notice the use of the coordinating
conjunctions to join the final word to
the list.
 Parallelism: PHRASES
• The homebuyers were told to pay the
earnest money, to get an inspection,
and to talk to their mortgage broker.
• Hooked on romance novels, I learned
that there is nothing more important
than being rich, looking good, and
having a good time.
Here, the repeating pattern includes
phrases.
Notice that where verbs appear in the
parallel structure, they are identical in
form, and when gerunds are used, they
are consistent throughout the structure.
Parallelism: CLAUSES
• The salesman expected that he
would present at the meeting,
that there would be time for his
slide presentation, and that
prospective buyers would ask
questions.

In this sentence, the parallel

structure includes clauses.
 Parallelism: LISTS
• Abused children commonly exhibit
one or more of the following
symptoms: withdrawal,
rebelliousness, restlessness, and
depression.
• A thesaurus can be used to find:
synonyms, antonyms, connotations,
and denotations.
All items that appear in a list after a
colon must take the same form.
 Parallelism: ITEMS IN PAIRS

• At Lincoln High School, vandalism can result in

suspension or expulsion.
• Thomas Edison was not only a prolific inventor,
but also a successful entrepreneur.
• It is easier to speak in abstractions than to
ground one’s thoughts in reality.
Each of these sentences uses a different
technique to join two items in a parallel pair.
The first sentence uses the coordinating
conjunction “or;” the second uses a correlative
conjunction, “not only . . . but also;” the third
uses the preposition “than.”
 Parallelism: FUNCTION WORDS

• To stop smoking, many smokers try

switching to a brand they find distasteful
or to a low tar and nicotine cigarette.
• Riley told me that she was late, that she
couldn’t be bothered to get a pass, and
that I’d just have to deal with it.
Repeat function words to clarify parallels.
Function words could include prepositions
like “by” or “to,” or subordinating
conjunctions like “that” or “because.”
 Parallelism
Summary and Practice
Items in a series must have
parallel structure.

Parallelism looks like this:

Shane , , and .

Shane , , and .
Here is an example:

Shane ate the pizza, wiped his lips, and

burped with contentment.

Ate = past tense

verb; wiped = past
tense verb; and
burped = past tense
verb.
Don’t create problems by mixing
grammatical elements.

Non-parallel structure looks like this:

Shane , , and .

Shane , , and .
The problem looks like this:

Shane ate the pizza, wiped his lips, and

burping with contentment.

Now look what you’ve

done! Ate and
wiped = past tense
verbs, but burping =
present participle!
 Quick Test (Part 1)

Directions: In the items that follow, choose

the sentence that has no errors in structure.
Example:
A. Barking dogs, kittens that were meowing, and
squawking parakeets greet the pet shop visitors.
B. Barking dogs, meowing kittens, and squawking
parakeets greet the pet shop visitors.
C. Dogs that bark, kittens that meow, and parakeets
squawking greet the pet shop visitors.
A. During class,
class, Samuel
Samuelspent
spenthis
histime
timeflirting
flirtingwith
with
Brittney, eating
Brittney, eating candy,
candy,and
anddoodling
doodlingon onthe
the
assignment sheet.
assignment sheet.
B. During class, Samuel spent his time flirting with
Brittney, he ate candy, and doodling on the
assignment sheet.
C. During class, Samuel spent his time to flirt with
Brittney, to eat candy, and doodling on the
assignment sheet.
A.
A. Alex
Alex looked
looked everywhere
everywhere for
for his
his math
math book—under
book—under
the
the bed,
bed, on
on his
his desk,
desk, and
and he
he searched
searched inside
inside the
the
refrigerator.
refrigerator.
B.
B. Alex
Alex looked
looked everywhere
everywhere for
for his
his math
math book—viewing
book—viewing
under
under the
the bed,
bed, searching
searching on
on his
his desk,
desk, and
and inside
inside the
the
refrigerator.
refrigerator.
C.
C. Alex looked everywhere
Alex looked everywhereforforhis
hismath
mathbook—under
book—under
the
the bed, on his
bed, on his desk,
desk, and
and inside
insidethe
therefrigerator.
refrigerator.
A. The manager wanted
wanted staff
staffwho
whoarrived
arrivedon
ontime,
time,
smiled at
at the
the customers,
customers,and
anddidn’t
didn’tsnack
snackon
onthe
the
chicken nuggets.
nuggets.
B. The manager wanted staff who arrived on time,
would be smiling at the customers, and would not
be snacking on the chicken nuggets.
C. The manager wanted staff who arrived on time,
smiled at the customers, and no snacking on the
chicken nuggets.
A. After giving Jeremy her phone number, Felicia
A. After
had togiving Jeremy
tolerate his her
latephone number,
night calls, Felicia had
stupid
to tolerate his late
conversations, night
and calls, stupid
requests for herconversations,
math
and requests for her math homework.
homework.
B.
B. After
After giving
giving Jeremy
Jeremy her
her phone
phone number,
number, Felicia
Felicia had
had
to
to tolerate
tolerate his
his late
late night
night calls,
calls, the
the fact
fact that
that he
he
carried
carried on
on stupid
stupid conversations,
conversations, and
and requests
requests for
for
her
her math
math homework.
homework.
C.
C. After
After giving
giving Jeremy
Jeremy her
her phone
phone number,
number, Felicia
Felicia had
had
to
to tolerate
tolerate being
being woken
woken upup late
late at
at night,
night, having
having
stupid
stupid conversations,
conversations, and
and he
he constantly
constantly requested
requested
her
her math
math homework.
homework.
Quick Test, Part 2
Directions: In the items that follow, choose the
correct word or phrase within the context suggested by
the sentence.

Pasta boiling in water, __________, and garlic bread

baking in the oven welcomed Francisco as he opened
the door.

A.simmered tomato sauce in the pan

B.tomato
tomato sauce
sauce simmering
simmeringin
inthe
thepan
pan
C.tomato sauce that simmered in the pan
D.saucy tomatoes that were simmering in the pan
During our vacation in the Bahamas, we
During our vacation in the Bahamas, we hopehope
__________,
__________, toto enjoy
enjoy beautiful
beautiful sunsets,
sunsets, and
and to
to dance
dance
ourselves
ourselves dizzy
dizzy at
at reggae
reggae clubs.
clubs.
A.
A.that
that we
we eat
eat delicious
delicious seafood
seafood
B. that eating delicious seafood occurs
B.that eating delicious seafood occurs
C.
C.to
to eat
eat delicious seafood
delicious seafood
D.
D.eating
eating delicious
delicious seafood
seafood
Karen
Karen wished
wished RayRay chewed
chewed with
with his
his mouth
mouth closed,
closed, for
for
otherwise
otherwise hehe was
was everything
everything she
she wanted
wanted in
in aa date;
date; he
he
was
was tall,
tall, intelligent,
intelligent, and
and __________.
__________.

A.
A.he
he looked
looked good
good
B.
B.being
being good
good looking
looking
C.
C.one
one handsome
handsome man
man to
to look
look at
at
D. handsome
D.handsome
To win Laurie’s love, Albert visited the florist for roses,
To win Laurie’s love, Albert visited the florist for roses,
the drugstore for a box of chocolates, and __________.
the drugstore for a box of chocolates, and __________.
A.bought an expensive gold necklace at the jewelry
A.bought an expensive gold necklace at the jewelry
store
store
B.the jeweler for an expensive gold necklace
B.the jeweler for an expensive gold necklace
C.the jeweler where he bought an expensive gold
C.the jeweler where he bought an expensive gold
necklace
necklace
D.to buy an expensive gold necklace
D.to buy an expensive gold necklace
Kimberly won’t date Terry because he is too short, too
Kimberly
noisy, andwon’t date Terry because he is too short, too
_________.
noisy, and _________.
A.because he picks his teeth with his fingers
A. because
B.too he picks his teeth with his fingers
impolite
B.too impolite
C.is the most impolite man she has ever met
C.
D.is the most
Picking impolite
his teeth withman
his she has ever met
fingers
D.Picking his teeth with his fingers
 The End.

Sources:
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