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Parallel Structure

Parallel structure is when you balance the grammatical structures of words, clauses, sentences, or phrases in your writing.

They are important for any kind of writing and speaking in order to maintain coherency. In this particular lesson we'll look at parallel words and phrases.

We make words or phrases parallel when we are writing things in a list or series, and each word must have the same grammatical form.

  • For words: nouns are balanced with nouns, adjectives with adjectives, verbs with verbs, gerunds with gerunds, and so on.

  • For phrases: prepositional phrases are balanced with prepositional phrases, infinitive phrases with infinitive phrases, and gerund phrases with gerund phrases.

The coordinating conjunction ‘and’ is usually used to connect the parallel items, but other coordinating conjunctions such as ‘or’ and ‘nor’ may be used.

Correlative conjunctions such as 'both/and', 'neither/nor' and 'whether/or' are also used as connectors.

Examples of Parallel Structure

Infinitives / Gerunds

  • She wants to go to England and studying at the London School of Economics. (WRONG)
  • She wants to go to England and study at the London School of Economics. (CORRECT)

The first sentence is wrong because the first item in the list, to go, is an infinitive, but the second item, studying, is a gerund. In order to correct it, studying has been changed to an infinitive.

Adverbs

  • John ensured that he gave his two minute talk confidently, effectively and persuasive. (WRONG)
  • John ensured that he gave his two minute talk confidently, effectively and persuasively. (CORRECT)

The first sentence is incorrect as the last item in the series, persuasive, is an adjective, whereas the first two items are adverbs. The second sentence has been corrected by changing persuasive to the adverb, persuasively.

Adjectives

  • The room was comfortable, airy, and it was not dirty. (WRONG)
  • The room was comfortable, airy, and clean. (CORRECT)

The first sentence is incorrect, since the first two items in the series, comfortable and airy, are adjectives, whereas the last item, it was not dirty, contains a verb. The second sentence has been corrected by changing it was not dirty to the adjective clean.

Infinitive Phrases

  • I can't decide whether to take a bus or riding my bicyle to work. (WRONG)
  • I can't decide whether to take a bus or (to) ride my bicyle to work. (CORRECT)

The first sentence is wrong because an infinitive and gerund phrase have been mixed together. The second is correct because they are both infinitive phrases.

Prepositional Phrases

  • He climbed the rock, up the wall, and onto the roof. (WRONG)
  • He climbed over the rock, up the wall, and onto the roof. (CORRECT)

The first sentence is not parallel since the first word, the rock, does not have a preposition, but the next two words in the list have. It can be corrected by placing the correct preposition, over, before climbed.

If you are more advanced, you may want to learn about some more complex parallel structures.

Quiz

Now practice what you have learned in this parallel structure quiz.

Parallel Structure Exercises

Instructions

Choose 'Yes' if you think the parallel structure is correct or 'No' if you think it is wrong. If the structure is wrong, you'll be shown the correct structure.

1. The scenery was spectacular, exciting, and looked beautiful.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

The scenery was spectacular, exciting, and beautiful.

2. They studied quickly, quietly, and carefully.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

3. To get the score you want in IELTS quickly you must both learn fast and work hard.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

4. I like neither to wash up dishes nor mopping the floor.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

I like neither to wash up dishes nor to mop the floor / I like neither washing up dishes nor mopping the floor

5. She walked out of the changing rooms, climbed onto the diving board, and into the swimming pool.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

She walked out of the changing rooms, climbed onto the diving board, and jumped into the swimming pool

6. He cleaned under the sink and behind the cooker.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

7. I'll return in June, July or in August.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

I'll return in June, July or August

8. I usually spend my evenings watching TV and surfing the internet.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

9. The manager did not like one of his employees because he always arrived late for work, made mistakes in his duties, completed projects carelessly, and his motivation was low.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

The manager did not like one of his employees because he always arrived late for work, made mistakes in his duties, completed projects carelessly, and lacked motivation.

10. It was both a long meeting and very boring.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

It was both a long meeting and a boring meeting / The meeting was both long and boring

11. You must either arrive on time or not come at all.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

12. For him, success is defined not by wealth but by how happy you are.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

For him, success is defined not by wealth but by happiness.

13. The salad was fresh, crisp, and tasted delicious.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

The salad was fresh, crisp, and delicious

14. He was not sure whether to move to Australia or stay in Japan.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

15. The quarter finals involves the English, the Spanish, French, and Germans.
Yes
No
Correct!
Wrong!

The quarter finals involves the English, the Spanish, the French, and the Germans

Take another parallel structure quiz

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