Lesson: Parallelism
The Facts: Parallelism is the use of similar words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. Parallel structures help create rhythm and balance and allows the author to emphasize ideas more clearly and effectively.
Why It's Confusing: Parallelism can be confusing, because the author might put together ideas with different sounds or words that can cause writing to be clunky or difficult to read.
How To Remember: One way to remember parallel structure is to read over the sentence and make sure that all items in the list have the same conjunctions. When forming parallel structures either put the conjunction in front of the first item or in front of all items in the list.
Examples:
•Parallel: Sam likes running, swimming, and playing sports.
•Not Parallel: Sam likes running, swimming, and to play sports.
•Parallel: Carl likes to watch TV, to play video games, and to use the computer.
•Not Parallel: Carl likes to watch TV, playing video games, and using the computer.
Which statement is parallel?:
"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
The coach wanted his players to practice, hydrate, and to do their homework.
Bob goes to hike, fish, and hunt on the weekends.
Tim wants to go to the store, buy groceries, and to cook dinner.
Citation:http://writingcenter.unlv.edu/writing/parallel.html
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