{"id":3253,"date":"2019-08-20T23:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T05:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=3253"},"modified":"2020-12-09T16:31:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T22:31:00","slug":"practicing-parallelism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/effective-writing\/practicing-parallelism\/","title":{"rendered":"Practicing Parallelism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parallelism is the use of consistent grammatical structures in a series of two or more items to assist ease of reading and understanding. We touched briefly on this topic in Parallel Construction<\/a> and Effective Writing<\/a>. We\u2019ll revisit it here with additional detail.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start by considering the following sentences:<\/p>\n

In October, we plan to build a shed, painting it, and will stock it. The shed will be wood and near the back of the yard.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We probably get what\u2019s being said, but we can also agree it\u2019s clunkier than it needs to be. Before we adjust it, let\u2019s identify the grammatical parts in the two sentences\u2019 series.<\/p>\n

In October, we plan to build a shed<\/u> <\/em>[infinitive phrase], painting it<\/u> <\/em>[gerund phrase], and will stock it<\/u> <\/em>[verb phrase, future tense]. The shed will be wood<\/u> <\/em>[noun] and near the back of the yard<\/u> <\/em>[adverbial prepositional phrase].<\/p>\n

Both series are clearly incongruent. To achieve parallelism, we\u2019ll make the series in the first sentence all infinitive verbs and the one in the second both participial phrases.<\/p>\n

In October, we plan to build<\/u> a shed, paint<\/u> it, and stock<\/u> it. The shed will be made of wood<\/u> and set<\/u><\/em> near the back of the yard<\/em><\/u>. (The words build, paint, <\/em>and stock <\/em>are parallel verbs attached to the infinitive-verb marker to<\/em>;\u00a0made<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0set<\/em>\u00a0are both participial adjectives modified by a prepositional phrase.)<\/p>\n

Our readers can now stride through our writing without getting tripped. With this principle in mind, let\u2019s next look more closely at parallelism in some different categories.<\/p>\n

Nouns<\/strong>
\nNot Parallel: <\/em>The band needs a singer<\/u> [noun], a guitar player<\/u> [noun], and to get booked for gigs<\/u> [infinitive phrase].
\nParallel: <\/em>The band needs a singer<\/u>, a guitar player<\/u>, and a booking agent<\/u>. [all nouns]<\/p>\n

Verbs<\/strong>
\nNot Parallel: <\/em>The storm flipped<\/u> [simple past] the patio table and was taking off<\/u> [past progressive] with the chairs.
\nParallel: <\/em>The storm flipped<\/u> the patio table and took off<\/u> with the chairs. [both simple past]<\/p>\n

Adjectives<\/strong>
\nNot Parallel: <\/em>The crowd was eager<\/u> [adj.], alert<\/u> [adj.], and jumping up and down<\/u> [verb].
\nParallel: <\/em>The crowd was eager<\/u>, alert<\/u>, and excitable<\/u>. [all adjectives]<\/p>\n

Adverbs<\/strong>
\nNot Parallel: <\/em>Calmly<\/u> [adv.] and with steady strokes<\/u> [prep. phrase], she swam the English Channel.
\nParallel: <\/em>Calmly<\/u> and steadily<\/u>, she swam the English Channel. [both adverbs]<\/p>\n

Articles<\/strong>
\nNot Parallel: <\/em>At the pet store, Lila wants to see the<\/u> dogs<\/u>, cats<\/u>, ferrets<\/u>, and the<\/u> guinea pigs<\/u>. [article only before the nouns dogs <\/em>and guinea pigs<\/em>]
\nParallel: <\/em>At the pet store, Lila wants to see the<\/u> dogs<\/u>, the<\/u> cats<\/u>, the<\/u> ferrets<\/u>, and the<\/u> guinea pigs<\/u>. [The article the <\/em>precedes each noun.]
\nOR
\nParallel:<\/em> At the pet store, Lila wants to see the<\/u> dogs<\/u>, cats<\/u>, ferrets<\/u>, and guinea pigs<\/u>. [A single starting article the <\/em>identifies all of the following nouns.]<\/p>\n

Prepositional Phrases<\/strong>
\nNot Parallel: <\/em>The park district will build the trail between the forests<\/u> [prep. phrase] and to wind with the stream<\/u> [infinitive phrase].
\nParallel: <\/em>The park district will build the trail between the forests<\/u> and along the stream<\/u>. [both prep. phrases]<\/p>\n

Our prepositional phrases also should be parallel with their standard phrasing:<\/p>\n

Not Parallel: <\/em>Her statements represent her satisfaction<\/u> and belief in<\/u> the jury\u2019s verdict.
\nParallel: <\/em>Her statements represent her satisfaction with<\/u> and belief in<\/u> the jury\u2019s verdict.<\/p>\n

Correlatives (e.g., either\u2026or<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nNot Parallel: <\/em>Either<\/u> we will climb<\/u> [future verb] the hill now or<\/u> wait<\/u> [present verb] until daybreak.
\nParallel: <\/em>We will<\/u> either<\/u> climb<\/u> the hill now or<\/u> wait<\/u> until daybreak. [both verbs modified by the auxiliary verb will<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Applying parallelism in our writing contributes to clearer, smoother communication between us and our readers\u2014and keeps them parallel with us to the end of each thought.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Using what you\u2019ve learned in this article, identify which sentence in each pair uses parallelism.<\/p>\n

1a. Shayna either should practice her backswing or skip this tournament.
\n1b. Shayna should either practice her backswing or skip this tournament.<\/p>\n

2a. Blaine\u2019s attitude remains upbeat, determined, and an inspiration.
\n2b. Blaine\u2019s attitude remains upbeat, determined, and inspiring.<\/p>\n

3a. The stock price surged and made investors record profits.
\n3b. The stock price surged and has made investors record profits.<\/p>\n

4a. The street is over the hill and beside the freeway.
\n4b. The street is over the hill and following the freeway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1b. Shayna should<\/u> either<\/u> practice<\/u> her backswing or skip<\/u> this tournament. (parallel correlative phrase; both verbs modified by should<\/em>)<\/p>\n

2b. Blaine\u2019s attitude remains upbeat<\/u>, determined<\/u>, and inspiring<\/u>. (parallel adjectives)<\/p>\n

3a. The stock price surged<\/u> and made<\/u> investors record profits. (parallel verbs)<\/p>\n

4a. The street is over the hill<\/u> and beside the freeway<\/u>. (parallel prep. phrases)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parallelism is the use of consistent grammatical structures in a series of two or more items to assist ease of reading and understanding. We touched briefly on this topic in Parallel Construction and Effective Writing. We\u2019ll revisit it here with additional detail. Let\u2019s start by considering the following sentences: In October, we plan to build […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,12,33,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives-adverbs","category-effective-writing","category-prepositions","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}