1. Don’t change horses in midstream! (It’s very awkward) A short lesson on parallel construction.

2. Changing horses in mid-sentence looks like this: playing Scrabble = gerund phrase reading zombie books = gerund phrase Indian food = noun I enjoy playing Scrabble, reading zombie books, and Indian food. See the problem? I enjoy,, and.

3. Here’s the fix: I enjoy playing Scrabble, reading zombie books, and eating Indian food. I enjoy,, and. playing Scrabble = gerund phrase reading zombie books = gerund phrase eating Indian food = gerund phrase

4. What about this? A.J. swung the bat and the ball was hit out of the park. A.J. swung the bat = active voice the ball was hit out of the park = passive voice How can you fix it?

5. Bingo! A.J. swung the bat and hit the ball out of the park. swung the bat = active voice hit the ball = active voice Notice the tense of each verb! homework = complete the parallel construction worksheet