Parallelism
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Parallelism
Vincent Law Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:41 pm
Definition of parallelism:
The balance between two or more similar words, phrases or clauses is called parallelism in grammar. Parallelism is also called parallel structure or parallel construction. Parallel construction prevents awkwardness, promotes clarity and improves writing style and readability.
Examples:
FALSE - "Nancy likes playing the piano, the trumpet and play the guitar."
TRUE - "Nancy likes the piano, the trumpet and the guitar."
TRUE - "Nancy likes playing the piano, the trumpet and the guitar."
FALSE - "She played basketball, had a shower and gone to school."
TRUE - "She played basketball, had a shower and went to school."
FALSE - "You can apply to the job by filling this form or apply by telephone."
TRUE - "You can apply to the job by filling this form or you can apply by telephone."
Rules of parallelism:
Parallelism is used to balance nouns with nouns, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, participles with participles, infinitives with infinitives, clauses with clauses.
- Parallelism is used with elements joined by coordinating conjunctions.
FALSE - "My mother likes cooking and to read."
TRUE - "My mother likes cooking and reading true."
- Parallelism is used with elements in lists or in a series.
FALSE - "This task can be done individually, in pairs, or can be done in groups of four."
TRUE - "This task can be done individually, in pairs, or in groups of four."
- Parallelism is used with elements being compared.
FALSE - "She is mad about watching TV more than to read a book."
TRUE - "She is mad about watching TV more than reading a book."
- Parallelism is used with elements joined by a linking verb or a form of 'be'
FALSE - "To learn is understanding the world."
TRUE - "To learn is to understand the world."
- Parallelism is used with elements joined by linking words.
FALSE - "The teacher not only wants his students to keep quiet but also to do the task."
TRUE - "The teacher wants his students not only to keep quiet but also to do the task."
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-parallelism.php
The balance between two or more similar words, phrases or clauses is called parallelism in grammar. Parallelism is also called parallel structure or parallel construction. Parallel construction prevents awkwardness, promotes clarity and improves writing style and readability.
Examples:
FALSE - "Nancy likes playing the piano, the trumpet and play the guitar."
TRUE - "Nancy likes the piano, the trumpet and the guitar."
TRUE - "Nancy likes playing the piano, the trumpet and the guitar."
FALSE - "She played basketball, had a shower and gone to school."
TRUE - "She played basketball, had a shower and went to school."
FALSE - "You can apply to the job by filling this form or apply by telephone."
TRUE - "You can apply to the job by filling this form or you can apply by telephone."
Rules of parallelism:
Parallelism is used to balance nouns with nouns, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, participles with participles, infinitives with infinitives, clauses with clauses.
- Parallelism is used with elements joined by coordinating conjunctions.
FALSE - "My mother likes cooking and to read."
TRUE - "My mother likes cooking and reading true."
- Parallelism is used with elements in lists or in a series.
FALSE - "This task can be done individually, in pairs, or can be done in groups of four."
TRUE - "This task can be done individually, in pairs, or in groups of four."
- Parallelism is used with elements being compared.
FALSE - "She is mad about watching TV more than to read a book."
TRUE - "She is mad about watching TV more than reading a book."
- Parallelism is used with elements joined by a linking verb or a form of 'be'
FALSE - "To learn is understanding the world."
TRUE - "To learn is to understand the world."
- Parallelism is used with elements joined by linking words.
FALSE - "The teacher not only wants his students to keep quiet but also to do the task."
TRUE - "The teacher wants his students not only to keep quiet but also to do the task."
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-parallelism.php
Vincent Law- Advanced Fluency
- Posts : 1537
Join date : 2011-12-22
Age : 49
Location : Philadelphia
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