Parallel Structure (part 2)

PARALLEL STRUCTURE (part 2)

Recognize parallel structure when you see it.

Whenever you include a list of actions or items, you must use equal grammatical units. If the first item is a noun, then the following items must also be nouns; if the first action is a simple past tense verb, then make the other items simple past tense verbs as well.
Nonparallel structure looks like this:

Students , , and .

Students capped their pens, were closing their notebooks, and zipped their book bags as they tried to alert Professor Jones, rambling at the lectern, that the end of class had arrived.

Capped and zipped are both simple past tense verbs, but... (read more>>) 

How to join all those items?

You can use these coordinating conjunctions to make parallel sentences:

• and
• but
• or
• not only... but also...
• not... but...
• both... and...
• neither... nor...
• either... or...

Examples:

1. I like eating fruit and vegetables
2. I hate playing football but I love watching it.
3. Which one do you like: fried chicken or fried fish?
4. I love not only swimming but also dancing.
5. We are not for war but for peace.
6. Both pizza and lasagna are delicious.
7.  John was neither here nor there.
8. You should buy either the red shirt or the blue one.

When you find some sentences like these:

• I buy some pens
• I buy some clothes
• I buy some scarves

Simply delete the repetition sentences, write it once, and combine the nouns by using COMMA (,) and AND to create parallel sentence.

• I buy some pens, clothes, and scarves.

Take a look at this sentence:

Paula went to work, a restaurant, and to the movie.

If the preposition or article (a, an, the) is the same for all items in the list, the writer can decide to include them in all of the items or write it just in the first.  Therefore, the above sentence is incorrect.   The items in the list are work, a restaurant, and the movies.  However, the writer used the preposition to with the first and third items only.   

Incorrect:  Paula went to work, a restaurant, and to the movies.
Correct:  Paula went to work, a restaurant, and the movies.
Correct:  Paula went to work, to a restaurant, and to the movies.


Here is another example:

There are trains leaving the station in the morning and noon.

The preposition is in.  When proofreading, ask yourself, "Is this the correct word for each item?"

In the morning?  YES! In noon?  NO!

The correct preposition for noon is at.  Therefore, we must write

There are trains leaving the station in the morning and at noon.

Some words and verbs use prepositions as well.   Look at this example:

The cancer researcher is interested and excited about the new advances in medical technology.

What are the words in the parallel structure?  They are interested and excited.  When the writer wrote excited, she also correctly wrote about.  How about interested?  Do you use about with interested?  Let's do the proofreading test that we learned above.

excited about the advances...?  YES! interested about the advances...?  NO!

The correct preposition used with interested is in.  Therefore, the above sentence is INCORRECT.   The correct preposition must be used in each item of the parallel structure.

The following is correct:
The cancer researcher is interested in and excited about the new advances in medical technology.

Are you ready to do some exercises?  Click here >>