051
Sentence Structure Handout 051
Parallelism
Words in a pair or a series should have a parallel structure. By balancing the items in
a pair or a series so that they have the same structure, you will make your sentences clearer
and easier to read. Notice how the parallel sentences that follow read more smoothly than
the nonparallel ones.
Nonparallel (Not balanced)
Parallel (Balanced)
Fran spends her free time reading,
listening to music, and she works in the
garden.
Fran spends her free time reading,
listening to music, and working in the
garden.
(A balanced series of -ing words: reading,
listening, working.)
After the camping trip, I was exhausted,
irritable, and wanted to eat.
After the camping trip, I was exhausted,
irritable, and hungry.
(A balanced series of descriptive words:
exhausted, irritable, hungry.)
My hope for retirement is to be healthy, to
live in a comfortable house, and having
plenty of money.
My hope for retirement is to be healthy, to
live in a comfortable house, and to have
plenty of money.
(A balanced series of to verbs: to be, to live,
to have.)
Nightly, Fred puts out the trash, checks
the locks on the doors, and the burglar
alarm is turned on.
Nightly, Fred puts out the trash, checks
the locks on the doors, and turns on the
burglar alarm.
(Balanced verbs and word order: puts out
the trash, checks the locks, turns on the burglar
alarm..)
Balanced sentences are not a skill you need worry about when writing first drafts.
But when you rewrite, you should try to put matching words and ideas into matching
structures. Such parallelism will improve your writing style.
Practice
The unbalanced part of each sentence is italicized. Rewrite this part so that it matches the
rest of the sentence.
Example In the afternoon, I changed two diapers, ironed several shirts, and was watching
soap operas.
watched
Parallelism Handout 051 (January 2012; ASC Eng/Read)
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1.
As the home team scored the winning touchdown, the excited fans screamed,
cheered, and pennants were waved.
____________________________________________________________________
2.
Would you prefer to go for a walk outside or staying indoors?
____________________________________________________________________
3.
Before Pete could assemble the casserole, he had to brown the meat, dice the
vegetables, and a cream sauce had to be made.
____________________________________________________________________
4.
Please feed the dog, the heat must be turned down, and lock the doors.
____________________________________________________________________
5.
That restaurant specializes in hamburgers that are overdone, wilted salads, and stale
pastries.
____________________________________________________________________
6.
The old Ford sputtered, was coughing, and finally stopped altogether.
____________________________________________________________________
7.
The hospital patients can sometimes be cranky, make a lot of demands, and ungrateful.
____________________________________________________________________
8.
After eating a whole pizza. two milkshakes, and sampling a bag of chips, Jerome was
still hungry.
____________________________________________________________________
9.
As soon as she gets up, she starts the coffee machine, turns on the radio, and a frozen
waffle is put in the toaster
_____________________________________________________________________
10. The boss told Vern that he had only two options: to work harder or leaving the
company.
____________________________________________________________________
Langan, John. Sentence Skills: A Workbook for Writers. 4th ed.
Parallelism (January 2012;g: ASC Eng/Read)
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