Parallelism Ms. Macemore

What is parallel structure? The repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. By making each compared item or idea in your sentence follow the same grammatical pattern, you create a parallel construction. Parallelism is used in making lists. Example: I enjoy running 5Ks, writing stories, and making Italian dishes. Each phrase must start with the same part of speech. If the first phrase starts with a preposition, so must the others. If it starts with a verb…you get the point. 

Nonparallel Structure For a list of actions or items, you must maintain parallel structure. To do this, use equal grammatical units. If the first item is a noun, then the following items must also be nouns; if the first item is a verb, then make the other items verbs as well. Nonparallel structure looks like this: At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, ceramic gnomes, and then she impulsively added a concrete mermaid to her cart.

Parallel Structure Either one of these would be correct: At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, ceramic gnomes, and a concrete mermaid. At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, rescued ceramic gnomes from the sale bin, and impulsively added a concrete mermaid to her cart.

How do I do this? Once you discover a nonparallel item, you have two options. First, you can make it conform to the other grammatical items in the sentence. Look at this example: We spent the hour in the waiting room reading old magazines, eating stale cookies from the vending machine, and we wiggled on the hard plastic chairs. How can we fix this one???

More Examples Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling. Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a bicycle. The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.

How else can we look at this? Essentially, when fixing parallel structure, you look for the ‘sore thumb’—the phrase that sticks out because it doesn’t sound the way the others do. It also helps to decide what is being listed, first.

More Explanation… In the restroom, Tishena was brushing her hair, freshened her lip-gloss, and took deep breaths, trying to work up the courage to walk to her first speech class. What is being listed? Which sticks out? In the restroom, Tishena brushed her hair, freshened her lip-gloss, and took deep breaths, trying to work up the courage to walk to her first speech class.

Practice Justin was excited about inviting friends over, eating a good meal, and to play cards. What is being listed? Which one doesn’t match? Why?

Practice – Fix These! Celine looked behind the toilet, in the laundry basket, and checked under the bed, but she could not find Squeeze, her nine-foot albino python. Spiders that bite, hissing snakes, and squealing rodents fill the aquariums in Desmond’s basement. Until the Weavers arrived home at 5 p.m., the clock ticked, the refrigerator hummed, and the dog was snoring in the otherwise quiet house. Mark looked under the bed, in the hamper, and he even searched his brother’s closet, but he could not find his favorite University of Florida T-shirt.