Parallelism Revision Review

What is Parallelism? Parallelism is no different in English than it is in math. In writing, parallelism occurs when there are items in a series. The items must be parallel. That means they all need to be similar grammatically.

Items in a Series When there are items in a series, they must be of the same part(s) of speech. For example, if the first two items are single nouns, then the third item must be a single noun too. e.g. I bought eggs, milk, and bread at the store.

Items in a Series Items in a series can also connect phrases. These can be prepositional phrases or participial phrases. e.g. I went to the store, to the gas station, and into the market. e.g. I was walking in the park, running through the streets, and tripping over fallen branches.

Items in a Series Items in a series can even be entire clauses. e.g. I went wherever I wanted, when I wanted, and with whom I wanted.

Items in a Series Be careful with items in a series. If the items are more than one word, be consistent. For example, if there is an adjective and a noun, then make the other two also be adjectives with nouns. e.g. I saw tall buildings, many people, and colorful billboards.

Test Yourself – Correcting Items in a Series On a separate piece of paper, correct these errors with parallelism. 1. I bought milk, a jar of pickles, and then I got eggs. 2. I went to the store, bought apples, and then I drove to the garage. 3. She visited busy New York City, took an exciting trip to Greece, and then saw the pyramids in Egypt.

Check Your Answers 1. I bought milk, pickles, and eggs. 2. I went to the store, I bought apples, and then I drove to the garage. 3. She visited busy New York City, exciting Greece, and Egyptian pyramids.

Now that you have completed this review, get a review quiz from your teacher. Take the quiz and return it to her. Then, access your essay on google docs. Look at the comments about parallelism. Make any corrections on the document. Then, get your rubric from your folder. Take the rubric and computer to your teacher to add points back to your essay score.