Parallelis m

1. Parallelism Ms. Macemore

2. What is parallel structure? • The repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. By making each compared item or idea in your sentence follow the same grammatical pattern, you create a parallel construction. Parallelism is used in making lists. • Example: I enjoy running 5Ks, writing stories, and making Italian dishes. • Each phrase must start with the same part of speech. If the first phrase starts with a preposition, so must the others. If it starts with a verb…you get the point. 

3. Nonparallel Structure • For a list of actions or items, you must maintain parallel structure. To do this, use equal grammatical units. If the first item is a noun, then the following items must also be nouns; if the first item is a verb, then make the other items verbs as well. • Nonparallel structure looks like this: At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, ceramic gnomes, and then she impulsively added a concrete mermaid to her cart.

4. Parallel Structure • Either one of these would be correct: • At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, ceramic gnomes, and a concrete mermaid. • At the garden store, Larissa bought plastic pink flamingos, rescued ceramic gnomes from the sale bin, and impulsively added a concrete mermaid to her cart.

5. How do I do this? • Once you discover a nonparallel item, you have two options. First, you can make it conform to the other grammatical items in the sentence. Look at this example: • We spent the hour in the waiting room reading old magazines, eating stale cookies from the vending machine, and we wiggled on the hard plastic chairs. • How can we fix this one???

6. More Examples • Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling. • Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a bicycle. • The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.

7. How else can we look at this? • Essentially, when fixing parallel structure, you look for the ‘sore thumb’—the phrase that sticks out because it doesn’t sound the way the others do. • It also helps to decide what is being listed, first.

8. More Explanation… • In the restroom, Tishenawas brushing her hair, freshened her lip-gloss, and took deep breaths, trying to work up the courage to walk to her first speech class. • What is being listed? Which sticks out? • In the restroom, Tishenabrushed her hair, freshened her lip-gloss, and took deep breaths, trying to work up the courage to walk to her first speech class.

9. Practice • Justin was excited about inviting friends over, eating a good meal, and to play cards. • What is being listed? • Which one doesn’t match? Why?

10. Practice – Fix These! • Celine looked behind the toilet, in the laundry basket, and checked under the bed, but she could not find Squeeze, her nine-foot albino python. • Spiders that bite, hissing snakes, and squealing rodents fill the aquariums in Desmond’s basement. • Until the Weavers arrived home at 5 p.m., the clock ticked, the refrigerator hummed, and the dog was snoringin the otherwise quiet house. • Mark looked under the bed, in the hamper, and he even searched his brother’s closet, but he could not find his favorite University of Florida T-shirt.