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Palm Beach Atlantic University
Center for Writing Excellence
PARALLEL STRUCTURE
Simple Parallelism: When writing a list, each item must be “equal grammatical units” (Plural
nouns, past tense verbs, etc.)
1. She brought her I.D. card, her lip-gloss, and her phone to chapel.
2. The effects of the drug prescribed by the pharmacy student are as follows: sudden
bleeding, excessive sweating, and uncontrollable vomiting.
Wrong: (non-parallel)
1. He went to the soccer game, Rita’s, and then filling up his Vespa.
Parallelism with coordinating conjunctions: Words in between coordinating conjunctions (for,
and, nor, but, or, yet, or so) must be “equal grammatical units.”
1. I went to Mellow Mushroom, yet I still had time to go to Renegades on Thursday night.
2. The popcorn burned, but I threw it out the window before the fire alarm went off.
Wrong: (non-parallel)
1. Her voice and how much range it has will blow Tuesday chapel away.
2. I liked the movie, yet why it ended like that confused me.
Parallelism with correlative conjunctions: When using one correlative conjunction, its
“partner” must follow: Not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor.
1. Either I go to Club Warren and study or I never will finish this study guide.
2. Not only did the Baxter cat drink all the milk, but also she meowed for more.
3. Neither the Campus Safety officer nor the librarian saw where the man with the cowboy
hat and roller blades came from.
Wrong: (non-parallel)
1. Not only is the Center for Writing Excellence the greatest place on campus but it has a
pet fish named Oscar.