Parallel Structure in Writing: Lesson and Activity
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Parallel structure--or parallelism--harmonizes and balances your writing. A sentence that fails to stay uniform in structure feels jerky and out-of-tune. Take the following example:
Greg likes playing football, taking pictures, and eating tacos.
Greg likes to play football, to take pictures, and to eat tacos.
“To eat tacos” is structurally different than playing football and taking pictures. To make this sentence consistent, you need to change “to eat tacos” into “eating tacos.” Voila—you have parallel structure.When you express ideas in a similar structural form, your writing sings and your sentences flow. There is a clarity to your message, a safety in your prose. Here are some tips for maintaining parallel structure:
When there is a list, be sure each item is written in a similar way.
For example, if you begin a list in the active voice, maintain the active voice.
Active Active Passive
Lions roared in the fields, elephants thundered down a ravine, and in the hills was cackling from hyenas. This sentence goes active voice, active voice, passive voice.Let’s change the sentence so it stays structurally consistent. Lions roared in the fields, elephants thundered down a ravine, and hyenas cackled in the hills. Voila, you have parallel structure..
Here is another example. Jack likes to play video games, skateboarding at the park, and to go on road trips with family.
Infinitive Gerund Infinitive
Which part of this sentence is structurally inconsistent with the rest? I’ll give you five seconds to think.
If you said skateboarding at the park, you are correct. To play video games and to go on road trips are both infinitives.
Skateboarding at the park is a gerund.
To make this sentence structurally consistent, we could write
Jack likes to play video games, to skateboard at the park, and to go on road trips with family.
Or
Jack likes playing video games, skateboarding at the park, and going on road trips with family. Voila, you have parallel structure.
Here is another example:
My friend said Mike was a bad driver because he disobeyed traffic laws, listened to music too loudly, and he was texting on his phone.Which part of this sentence is structurally inconsistent with the rest? I’ll give you five seconds to think.
If you said “he was often texting on his phone,” you are correct.
Let’s change this so it follows parallel structure.
My friend said Mike was a bad driver because he disobeyed traffic laws, listened to music too loudly, and texted on his phone. Voila—you have parallel structure.Ok, here is the last example:
My dad not only likes to work on cars, but also fixes boats.
Does this sentence use parallel structure? I’ll give you five seconds to think.The answer is no.
Here are the two ways you could rewrite this sentence.
My dad not only likes to work on cars, but he also likes to fix boats.
Or
My dad likes not only to work on cars, but also to fix boats.
You should use parallel structure when connecting two clauses or phrases with correlative conjunctions. These include
If...then,
either...or,
not only...but also,
Neither...nor
Now it is your turn to practice identifying parallel structure. You will be given 5 sentences. If the sentence uses parallel structure, say why. If the sentence does not use parallel structure, rewrite the sentence so that it does. Good luck.
1. Yesterday I played football, watched television and went hiking with friends.
2. The man said that Mike finished painting the house, installing the laminate, and the windows were installed.
3.The football team focused on their game plan, played great defense, and converted on most of their third down plays.
4. It came to my attention that you like to eat hamburgers, singing karaoke, and running marathons.
5.I not only like to fish, but I also listen to music.
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#parallelism #parallel syntax