Sentences - Parallel Structures Words in a pair or in a series should have a parallel structure. By balancing the items in a pair or a series so that they have the same kind of structure, you will make the sentence clearer and easier to read.

not balanced:

Wild Bill enjoys hunting for rabbits, socializing with friends, and to read the funnies.

balanced:

Wild Bill enjoys hunting for rabbits, socializing with friends, and reading the funnies.

not balanced:

Miss America contestants must be religious, talented, and show patriotism.

balanced:

Miss America contestants must be religious, talented and patriotic.

not balanced:

Julie likes to wear soft sweaters, to eat exotic foods, and bathing in bath oil.

balanced:

Julie likes to wear soft sweaters, to eat exotic foods, and to bathe in bath oil.

Exercise 1 The unbalanced part of each sentence below is in bold print. Rewrite the unbalanced parts so that it matches the rest of the sentence.

1.

Mrs. Grencher likes to water her garden, walking her fox terrier, and to yell at her husband. ________________________________________________________________

2.

That afternoon she changed two diapers, did the ironing of two shirts, and watched two soap operas.

________________________________________________________________ 3.

The bacon was fatty, grease was on the potatoes, and the eggs were cold. ________________________________________________________________

4.

Lola plans to become a model, lawyer, or to go into nursing. ________________________________________________________________

5.

When I saw my roommate with my girl friend, I felt worried, angry, and embarrassment as well. ________________________________________________________________

When two or more elements in a sentence have the same function, they should have the same form. That is, they should be parallel.

not balanced:

Kayaking requires strength, courage and the paddler must be experienced.

balanced:

Kayaking requires strength, courage, and experience.

Exercise 2 Rewrite the following sentences, correcting the faulty parallelism.

1.

Jackson promised to be more careful, and that he would work more slowly. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

2.

No one enjoyed the haying, the milking, or to plow except Bill. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________ 3.

Mark is not only talented as a pianist but also at acting. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

4.

I’d rather go skiing than to sightsee. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

5.

Eloise is easygoing, soft-spoken, and has patience. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

6.

To sing with a rock group and making lots of money was her big dream. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

7.

Steven will either enlist in the armed forces or learning computer programming. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

8.

These melons are ripe, juicy and have a sweet taste. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

9.

The ranger warned us to dress warmly and that we should keep dry. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

10.

Making a decision and to stick to it was something Bob couldn’t do.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Shifts in pronoun reference often result in faulty parallelism.

faulty:

If one wants an application, you should ask the principal.

correct:

If one wants an application, one should ask the principal. If you want an application, you should ask the principal.

Shift in voice may also result in faulty parallelism.

faulty:

As the hikers rounded a curve, a peaceful valley was seen far below.

correct:

As the hikers rounded a curve, they saw a peaceful valley far below. The hikers rounded a curve and saw a peaceful valley far below.

Exercise 3 Rewrite the following sentences to eliminate needless shifts in person and voice.

1.

If one speaks Spanish, you should be able to understand Italian. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________ 2.

Although Al tried to get to the stadium on time, the kickoff was missed. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

3.

When you see an opportunity, one should take advantage of it. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

4.

The cyclists reached the river, and then the bridge was crossed. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

5.

Because Judy stopped for a newspaper, her train was missed. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

6.

If you want to be taken seriously, one should think before one speaks. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

7.

Jo jumped when the door slammed, and the tray of dishes was dropped. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

8.

When we visited the auto plant, a great deal about assembly-line techniques was learned. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

9.

Rosita kept the best items for her collection, and the others were sold by her.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 10.

If one wants a quick refund, you should file your tax return early. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Shift in verb tense often results in faulty parallelism.

faulty:

When the game ended, the fans rushed onto the field.

parallel:

When the game ended, the fans rushed onto the field.

Exercise 4 Rewrite the following sentence to eliminate shifts in tense.

1.

Bernard prepared the sauce for the pasta and put the bread in the oven. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

2.

Emily always wants to stay up for the late show but always fell asleep watching it. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

3.

His breakfast never varies; it consisted of yogurt and prune juice. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

4.

Billy Joe didn’t like the tacos but eats them anyway. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

5.

The horse reared in the starting gate and throws his rider. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Further Practice In writing, parallel means ‘similar’, having close resemblance. When two or more ideas in a sentence are alike in purpose, they should be expressed in the same grammatical form:

words:

Gene is big, but graceful. Midge wants to hop, skip and jump. His manner is high, wide and handsome.

phrases:

At work and at play, Lisa always pushed herself hard. Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go.

clauses:

My spirits rose when I arrived in Puerto Rico, and when I saw my roommate in the airport lobby. I cannot drive in the province until I am seventeen, and until I pass my driver’s test.

Sentence elements that are coordinate in rank should be parallel in structure, i.e., a prepositional phrase should be coordinated with a prepositional phrase, an infinitive phrase with an infinitive phrase and so on.

not parallel:

This book is out of stock and not being printed.

Parallel:

This book is out of stock and out of print.

Sentence elements following correlative conjunctions should be parallel in form. The four common pairs of correlative conjunction are both ... and, either ... or, neither ... nor, not only ... but also. Each part of the pair should be followed immediately by the same grammatical form, two similar words, two similar phrases, or two similar clauses.

not parallel:

You can either take the high road or the low road.

parallel:

You can take either the high road or the low road.

not parallel:

She not only is quite rich but also quite stingy.

parallel:

She is not only quite rich, but also quite stingy.

Exercise 5 Rewrite the following sentences, making the coordinate elements parallel in form.

1.

Not only was she noisy and rude but also rather stupid. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

2.

Andre didn’t like Liberals and especially to have one in the family. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

3.

I spend too much time both playing bridge and in talking. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

4.

Jay is a man whom people respect but is not very approachable.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

5.

At about noon every day the siren blows and warning the residents of another big blast at the quarry. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

6.

The constant nibbling away of the rats and to hear them running across the foot of the bed undermined Craig’s confidence. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

7.

Later that year, having lost his job and unable to find another, he had to sell his car. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

8.

My Uncle Julian wrote his autobiography which was uninteresting because nothing had ever happened to him. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

9.

Students too often come to class with pencil and paper, carrying notebooks and texts, and a torpid mind. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

10.

The admiral was told he was either a liar or he was a fool. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________ Answer Key Exercise 1

1.

Mrs. Grencher likes to water her garden, to walk her fox terrier, and to yell at her husband.

2.

That afternoon she changed two diapers, ironed two shirts, and watched two soap operas.

3.

The bacon was fatty, the potatoes were greasy, and the eggs were cold.

4.

Lola plans to become a model, a lawyer, or a nurse.

5.

When I saw my roommate with my girl friend, I felt worried, angry and embarrassed as well.

Exercise 2 1.

Jackson promised to be more careful, and to work more slowly.

2.

No one enjoyed the haying, the milking, or the plowing except Bill.

3.

Mark is not only talented as a pianist, but also as an actor.

4.

I’d rather go skiing than sightseeing.

5.

Eloise is easygoing, soft-spoken, and patient.

6.

To sing with a rock group, and to make lots of money was her big dream.

7.

Steven will either enlist in the armed forces or learn computer programming.

8.

These melons are ripe, juicy and sweet.

9.

The ranger warned us to dress warmly and to keep dry.

10.

Making a decision and sticking to it was something Bob couldn’t do.

Exercise 3 1.

If one speaks Spanish, one should be able to understand Italian.

2.

Although Al tried to get to the stadium on time, he missed the kickoff.

3.

When you see an opportunity, you should take advantage of it.

4.

The cyclists reached the river, and then they crossed the bridge.

5.

Because Judy stopped for a newspaper, she missed her train.

6.

If you want to be taken seriously, you should think before you speak.

7.

Jo jumped when the door slammed, and she dropped the tray of dishes.

8.

When we visited the auto plant, we learned a great deal about assembly-line techniques.

9.

Rosita kept the best items for her collection, and she sold the others.

10.

If one wants a quick refund, one should file one’s tax return early.

Exercise 4 1.

Bernard prepared the sauce for the pasta and put the bread in the oven.

2.

Emily always wants to stay up for the late show, but always falls asleep watching it.

3.

His breakfast never varies; it consists of yogurt and prune juice.

4.

Billy Joe didn’t like the tacos, but he ate them anyway.

5.

The horse reared in the starting gate, and threw the rider.

Exercise 5 1.

She was not only noisy and rude, but also rather stupid.

2.

Andre didn’t like Liberals, and he especially didn’t like them in the family.

3.

I spend too much time playing bridge and participating in bull sessions.

4.

Jay is a man whom people respect, but he is not very approachable.

5.

At about noon every day the siren blows and warns the residents of another big blast at the quarry.

6.

Hearing the rats nibbling constantly and running across the foot of the bed undermined Craig’s confidence.

7.

Later that year, having lost his job and being unable to find another, he had to sell his car.

8.

My Uncle Julian wrote his autobiography, which was uninteresting because nothing has ever happened to him.

9.

Students too often come to class with pencil and paper, notebooks and texts, and torpid minds.

10.

The Admiral was told he was either a liar or a fool.

Bibliography Langan, John, English Skills, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977. p. 334 – 335 McClelland, Viviane, English Ninety-Eight, Doubleday Canada Ltd., 1983. p. 49 – 53 Shaw, Harry, Handbook of English, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.., 1979. p. 312 – 315