Download Understanding Parallelism in Writing: A Guide and more Lecture notes Construction in PDF only on Docsity!
FAULTY PARALLELISM
Many sentences contain parallel thoughts, for example, "Lee had a great time scuba-diving and water-skiing on her vacation." Scuba-diving and water-skiing are parallel thoughts; that is, they are both things that Lee had a great time doing. By expressing both of them with -ing words, the sentence emphasizes this parallelism. A clumsier way of saying the same thing might be, "Lee had a great time scuba-diving, and also she water-skied during her vacation." The two parallel thoughts are expressed in non-parallel forms of words, and the sense of their parallel relationship is weakened.
1. When elements are parallel in thought, use parallel forms to express them.
cooking, eating, cleaning
to cook, to eat, to clean
have cooked, have eaten, have cleaned
pretty, tall, friendly
2. Balance a noun with a noun, a verb with a verb, a modifier with a modifier, etc.
Whenever possible, words of the same kind should be used to do the same jobs in a sentence.
She is charming and beautiful.
In this sentence, charming, an -ing word, is balanced with beautiful. They are in parallel structure, however, because they are both modifiers; that is, they both describe a person.
Incorrect: She is charming and has beauty.
Both phrases describe her, but charming is a modifier, whereas beauty is a noun. Therefore, the sentence has now lost its parallel structure.
Incorrect: We like tacos and to eat enchiladas.
Tacos is a noun; to eat enchiladas is a combination of a verb form and a noun. Is this sentence in parallel structure?
We like tacos and enchiladas.
Does this sentence have parallel structure? What words are parallel? What kind of words are they?
We like to eat tacos and enchiladas.
Although this sentence may appear to have faulty parallelism, it actually does have parallel structure. In this case, tacos and enchiladas are objects of the verb to eat. What do we like to eat? We like to eat tacos, and we also like to eat enchiladas.
3. Use parallel construction for words joined by such connectors as and, but, nor, or.
I enjoy reading, writing, and conducting experiments in a laboratory.
Note that the three elements are all -ing words. This sentence contains proper parallelism.
Incorrect: Our baby is cute and behaves well.
In this example, the parallelism is faulty. Cute is a modifier; behaves well is a form of a verb. This sentence may be rewritten as follows:
Our baby is cute and well-behaved.
4. Use parallel structure with such constructions as either.. .or, neither.. .nor, not... but, not only.. .but also, both.. .and.
Incorrect: Either going for a ride or to lie in the sun is my idea of a good time.
This sentence may be rewritten:
Either going for a ride or lying in the sun is my idea of a good time.
Incorrect: Not only was he a great man, but also an excellent writer.
What is wrong with the parallelism here? Was he a great man contains both a subject he and a verb was; and excellent writer contains neither. This is an especially common error. The sentence may be rewritten as:
He was not only a great man but also an excellent writer.
Now the subject and verb have been moved out of the parallel sections, and there is proper parallelism between a great man and an excellent writer.
or
Not only was he a great man, but he was also an excellent writer.
Now each clause has a subject and a verb; again there is proper parallelism.
5. Parallel groups of words in a sentence must have parallel structure.
Incorrect: I promise to be a good husband and that I will help clean the apartment.
The two groups of words do not have a parallel structure in this sentence. One begins with the to form of a verb, and the other does not. This sentence may be rewritten as follows:
I promise that I will be a good husband and that I will help clean the apartment.
Now the two elements are parallel. Note how the form of the first has been changed to go along with the second.
Incorrect: By changing the oil myself, and because I know how to do tune-ups, I save money on the care of my car.
Again, the two separate elements of this sentence do not coincide. There is no parallel structure. The sentence may be rewritten as follows:
By changing the oil myself and by doing my own tune-ups, I save money on the care of my car.
She got a new job with a higher salary, increased benefits, and she also works fewer hours than
looking out for bears
- tall handsome with brown hair
- looking outside was in the room wanted to open the window
- on the beach in a tent making a fire
- to put on slippers reading the newspaper smoking a pipe
- by raking the leaves mowing the lawn by trimming the shrubs
- sturdy made of wood has compartments for pencils
- green eyes a long, curling tail on the sofa
- to have a good time carrying her baby walking through the park
ANSWERS:
- to cash a check
- looking out for bears
- with brown hair
- looking outside
- making a fire
- to put on slippers
- mowing the lawn
- sturdy
- on the sofa
- to have a good time
Revised: Spring 2005 Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC) Texas State University-San Marcos
