Parallelism
Parallelism makes your sentences clear, effective, and impressive.
Did you notice how I used three words to describe sentences? Clear, effective, and impressive are all adjectives, so my sentence had a nice ring to it.
If I had said, “Parallelism makes your sentences clear, effective and impresses your reader,” that would not sound so good. That's because I had used two adjectives and a verb phrase, which are not parallel structures. You can hear how the sentence tipped off balance.
Parallelism is all about balance. Just as parallel lines in geometry run in the same direction but never meet, parallel language structures are similar in form, and they take your reader in the same direction. Mixing structures is confusing and jarring for the reader.
Let's look at some examples of five common mistakes in parallelism to get your writing flowing in the right direction.
Mixing coordinate elements
My children adore running, jumping, screaming, and drive me insane!
In this sentence, "running," "jumping," and "screaming” are gerunds (verbs ending in -ing that function as nouns). However, “drive” is a verb in the base form (without -ing). Although these are all forms of verbs, the two different forms next to one another sound uncomfortable—just like being a mom in a room of screaming toddlers!
You could correct this by choosing a form and making it consistent:
My children adore running, jumping, screaming, and driving me insane!
or
My children adore to run, jump, scream, and drive me insane!
Note that we do not need to repeat the "to" of the infinitive when the subsequent verbs are in the same form.
This rule also applies to other forms of speech. Here is an example with adverbs and adverbial phrases:
The teacher described the topic for the day speedily and with flair.
Both the adverb "speedily" and the phrase "with flair" need to be the same part of speech for this sentence to have good solid parallel structure. If speedily is an adverb, what is the adverb for flair? This is a good question. If you find one, let me know (flairly is certainly not a word!)
If we cannot change “flair,” we could change “speedily” to a noun to match it:
The teacher described the topic for the day with speed and flair.
The longer the phrases the harder it is to keep track of the parallel structures. Here's a slightly more complex example:
Skipping meals, too much social media, and feeling insecure are all part of the writing process.
Can you see the issue here? We have two gerund (ing verb) phrases and a noun sandwiched in between. This would be better corrected to the following:
Skipping meals, too much scrolling social media, and feeling insecure are all part of the writing process.
2. Correlative conjunctions.
When you use two-part conjunctions like whether...or, either...or, neither...nor, the part of the sentence following each conjunction should be parallel.
Here's an example with "not only...but also," which is particularly troublesome.
The professor not only critiqued my presentation but also my speaking skills.
The parts after each conjunction are not even. Could you hear it?
There are two easy fixes for this type of problem:
· As the same verb applies to both phrases, we can move it before "not only".
The professor critiqued not only my presentation but also my speaking skills.
· Or we can add a verb to the second phrase to balance them.
The professor not only critiqued my presentation but also questioned my speaking skills.
3. Series or lists.
In a series of phrases (or a list), make sure the little beginning words like prepositions or the "to" of the verb are either used on every element or only on the first.
She expects her employees to obey rules, to support each other, and to arrive on time.
or
She expects her employees to obey rules, support each other, and arrive on time.
4. Noun number
When we use nouns, it is important to keep the same number (singular or plural forms).
For example,
Portable devices such as laptops or a cell phone should be switched off.
When we are talking in general, we tend to use the plural. The reason this sentence sounds weird is that we have a mix of two forms: multiple laptops but only one cell phone. This is a confusing rule. Let's change it to one of the following:
Portable devices such as laptops or cell phones should be switched off.
or
Please switch off your laptop or cell phone.
5. Subject Matter
If two actions are described in a sentence with the same subject, it must be clear to the reader what the connection is between them.
He decided on the hook for his new romance novel, and had an ice cream for dessert.
Unless the hook for his new novel was related in some way to ice cream, these two actions do not have much of a connection. Parallelism in subject matter means that everything discussed in a sentence should be clearly related. The possible connections are endless, but for proper parallelism, that connection must be obvious.
He decided on the hook for his new romance novel, and in celebration, he had an ice cream for dessert.
or
He had lost track of time deciding on the hook for his new romance novel, so he grabbed an ice cream for a snack.
6. Relative clauses
Relative clauses are phrases beginning with that, and they replace nouns in a sentence.
Take a look at the following sentence:
He was excited that finishing his novel was on the horizon and he could send it to a publisher soon.
A second “that” would correct the parallelism and clear up any confusion in meaning.
· He was excited that finishing his novel was on the horizon and that he could send it to a publisher soon.
Phew! Parallelism is not easy. It really comes down to understanding the role the words you choose play in your sentence. If you are unsure, write the sentence out and write each parallel (or listed) element separately. That way, you will see if there is balance.
