Use parallel forms - Style

The little red writing book - Brandon Royal 2007

Use parallel forms
Style

Principle #13: Express a series of items in consistent, parallel form.

Parallelism in writing means that we should express similar parts of a sentence in a consistent way. Elements alike in function should be alike in construction. Parallelism builds clarity and power. Note the following sentence in parallel form: “The high school entrepreneur created, financed, and marketed the new miracle tool.” Now compare this with a nonparallel form: “The high school entrepreneur was involved in the creation of a new miracle tool, secured financing for it, and spent time getting the product to market.”

Consider the parallelism in the famous quote by former U.S. President John F. Kennedy:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.

Note how all the verbs are in parallel form. Also, ponder the parallelism of this famous spiritual verse.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Parallelism may involve any part of speech, but especially verbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. They may also involve the articles a, an, and the.

Parallelism must be observed closely when we list a series of items. The rule here is that either we repeat the word before every element in a series or include it only before the first item. Anything else violates the rules of parallelism governing a series of items. Your treatment of the second element of the series determines the form of all subsequent elements.

EXAMPLE 1

Original:

Miguel went to Chile, Peru, and to Ecuador.

Correct: Miguel went to Chile, to Peru, and to Ecuador.

Correct:

Miguel went to Chile, Peru, and Ecuador.

EXAMPLE 2

Original:

She likes sun, sand, and going to the sea.

Correct:

She likes the sun, the sand, and the sea.

Correct:

She likes the sun, sand, and sea.

EXAMPLE 3

Original:

The prime minister had met with military personnel, listened to his closest advisors, and had studied a recent poll result before deciding on military action.

Correct:

The prime minister had met with military personnel, had listened to his closest advisors, and had studied a recent poll result before deciding on military action.

Correct:

The prime minister had met with military personnel, listened to his closest advisors, and studied a recent poll result before deciding on military action.

EXERCISE 1

Rewrite the following sentences using parallel structure.

See suggested solutions

1. Despite winning the lottery, the elderly couple said they planned to spend money only on a new tractor, new stove, and a new porch.

2. Olympic volunteers were ready, fully able, and were quite determined to do a great job.

3. The documentary was interesting and replete with pertinent information.

4. Wayne Gretsky was well-liked by his teammates and National Hockey League fans respected him.

5. Students can log onto Facebook, spend time reading email messages, review some blog posts, and then tweet with joy.

6. The fund manager based his theory on stock performance, bond performance, and on other leading economic indicators.

7. The dancer taught her understudy how to move, to dress, how to work with choreographers and deal with photographers.

8. Just as the sound advice of a good lawyer can help win a court case so too can a sports match be won by the sound advice of a good coach.

9. According to the Buddhist mantra, fearfulness, feelings of anger, and needless desire lead to suffering. Eliminate fearfulness, feelings of anger, and needless desire and you eliminate suffering.

10. My objections regarding the pending impeachment are, first, the personal nature of the matter; second, that it is partisan.

ELLIPTICAL EXPRESSIONS

Parallelism also involves rules for when we can acceptably eliminate words in a sentence and still retain clear meaning. Three potentially tricky situations may arise when using verbs, prepositions, and correlative conjunctions. In the case of verbs (or verb forms) and prepositions, it is okay to omit a second verb or preposition if it is the same as the first. To check for faulty parallelism, complete each component idea in a sentence and make sure each part of the sentence can stand alone. For instance, in the sentence “The speech was informative and funny,” there is no need to say “The speech was informative and was funny,” since the second verb “was” is the same as the first, and need not be written out.

Verbs

Original:

In my favorite Japanese restaurant, the sushi is excellent and the drinks expensive.

Correct:

In my favorite Japanese restaurant, the sushi is excellent and the drinks are expensive.

Definition: The verb in the second part of the sentence is different from the verb used in the first part of the sentence and must be written out.

Prepositions

Original:

John is interested but not very good at golf.

Correct:

John is interested in but not very good at golf.

Definition: The preposition in the second part of the sentence is different from the preposition used in the first part of the sentence and must be written out.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions include “either ... or,” “neither ... nor,” “not only ... but also,” and “both ... and.” If a verb is placed before the first component part in the correlative construction, then the verb need not be repeated. If the verb is placed after the first component part in the correlative construction, then it must be placed after the second item as well.

Original:

She not only likes beach volleyball but also snow skiing.

Correct:

She likes not only beach volleyball but also snow skiing.

Correct:

She not only likes beach volleyball but also likes snow skiing.

Note: The first correct version above is arguably more popular.

EXERCISE 2

Rewrite the following sentences using parallel structure.

See suggested solutions

1. The painting may be done either with watercolors or oils.

2. Tasmania has and always will be an island.

3. Who is not interested and astounded by this fact? — A million seconds ago was 11.5 days ago; a billion seconds ago was 31 years ago; a trillion seconds ago was 310 centuries ago or 31 millennia ago!

4. Massage creates a relaxing, therapeutic, and rejuvenating experience both for your body and your well-being.

5. Samantha is intrigued but not very proficient at handwriting analysis.

6. A good scientist not only thinks logically but also creatively.

7. Brian will not ask nor listen to any advice.

8. Either we forget our plans or accept their proposal.

9. A dilemma facing many young professionals is whether to choose to work for money or to work for enjoyment.

10. Neither should one lie to good friends nor be so patronizing as to not tell them the truth.