Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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:
balanced:
not balanced:
balanced:
not balanced:
balanced:
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.
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:
balanced:
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.
________________________________________________________________
3.
4.
5.
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.
9.
The ranger warned us to dress warmly and that we should keep dry.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
10.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
faulty:
correct:
faulty:
correct:
Exercise 3
Rewrite the following sentences to eliminate needless shifts in person and voice.
1.
________________________________________________________________
2.
Although Al tried to get to the stadium on time, the kickoff was missed.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3.
4.
The cyclists reached the river, and then the bridge was crossed.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
5.
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.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
faulty:
parallel:
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.
4.
Billy Joe didnt 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:
phrases:
clauses:
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:
Parallel:
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:
parallel:
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 didnt like Liberals and especially to have one in the family.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3.
4.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
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 Craigs confidence.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
7.
Later that year, having lost his job and unable to find another, he had to sell his
car.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
8.
9.
Students too often come to class with pencil and paper, carrying notebooks and
texts, and a torpid mind.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
10.
________________________________________________________________
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.
5.
When I saw my roommate with my girl friend, I felt worried, angry and
embarrassed as well.
Exercise 2
1.
2.
No one enjoyed the haying, the milking, or the plowing except Bill.
3.
4.
5.
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.
9.
10.
Exercise 3
1.
2.
3.
4.
The cyclists reached the river, and then they crossed the bridge.
5.
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 ones 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.
4.
Billy Joe didnt 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 didnt like Liberals, and he especially didnt like them in the family.
3.
I spend too much time playing bridge and participating in bull sessions.
4.
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 Craigs confidence.
7.
Later that year, having lost his job and being unable to find another, he had to sell
his car.
8.
9.
Students too often come to class with pencil and paper, notebooks and texts, and
torpid minds.
10.
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