Parallelism

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Parallelism

• Brenham Writing Room
• Created by D. Herring

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What is Parallelism?

• Parallelism in writing means that similar parts
  in a sentence (2 or more) must have the same
  structure.
• Their parts are comparable and balanced.
• Allows writing to flow smoothly and helps avoid
  misunderstandings.
• When similar parts do not follow the same
  structure, you have created Faulty Parallelism.

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Understanding Parallelism

• Use similar structures to express similar ideas.
• Put nouns with nouns
• Faulty (F) I enjoy basketball more than playing
  video games.
• Correct (C) I enjoy basketball more than video
  games.
• Put verbs with verbs (and use same tense)
• F On our anniversary, we ate, danced, and were
  singing.
• C On our anniversary, we ate, danced, and sang.
• Put adjectives with adjectives
• F My history class was both interesting and a
  challenge.
• C My history class was both interesting and
  challenging.

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Parallelism in Pairs Lists

• When you present two or more items in a series
  joined by and or or, use similar form for each
  item.
• F I am doing well in my English class, in my
  math class, and in history.
• F I am doing well in my English class, in my
  math class, and my history class.
• C I am doing well in my English class, in my
  math class, and in my history class.

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Parallelism in Comparisons

• In comparisons, the items being compared must
  have parallel structure.
• F Driving to Austin is as fast as to fly.
• C Driving to Austin is as fast as flying.
• F Buying textbooks is almost as expensive as
  tuition.
• C Buying textbooks is almost as expensive as
  paying tuition.
• C Textbooks are almost as expensive as tuition.

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Parallelism with Paired Words

• When a sentence uses correlative conjunctions,
  the items joined by them must be parallel.
• F My history course is both interesting and a
  challenge.
• C My history course is both interesting and
  challenging.
• F You must either make a C in the course or
  taking it again will be the consequence.
• C You must either make a C in the course or take
  it again.
• F I would rather work hard and pass than to
  repeat the course.
• C I would rather work hard and pass than repeat
  the course.

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