Lesson: Usage (Parallelism)

Unschooled writers frequently fail to follow the rules of parallelism. They may worry that by repeating similar
clauses and phrases within a sentence, their writing will be monotonous even though this is not the case.
Of course, a skilled writer will vary sentence patterns within the text as whole, but every writer should strive
to ensure that structures used within a sentence are parallel in structure. Some examples follow.
Do not mix nouns and adjectives in a list.
Nonparallel: He admired his wife because she was kind, worked hard, and had intelligence.
Parallel: He admired his wife because she was kind, hardworking, and intelligent.
Parallel: He admired his wife for her kindness, hard work, and intelligence.
Do not mix infinitives and gerunds in a list.
Nonparallel: As a music lover, she liked to play the piano, singing, and dancing.
Parallel: As a music lover, she liked playing the piano, singing, and dancing.
Parallel: As a music lover, she liked to play the piano, to sing, and to dance.
Do not mix active and passive voice.
Nonparallel: Formerly, votes were cast with paper ballots, now electronic voting is used.
Parallel: Formerly, votes were cast with paper ballots; now they are cast on computers.
Parallel: Formerly, voters used paper ballots to vote; now they use computers.
Note that if an article or a preposition applies to all the items in a list, it may be used only before the first
item or it must be repeated before each.
Nonparallel: The mockingbird sings in the spring, summer, fall, and in the winter.
Parallel: The mockingbird sings in the spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Parallel: The mockingbird sings in spring, in summer, in fall, and in winter.