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parallelism with items in a series

A writing tip explaining how to use parallel structure with a series of items.
A sentence is parallel when items in a series share the same grammatical structure (when all are nouns or verbs or gerund phrases, for example). Writers use parallelism to help readers see connections between ideas and to emphasize particular points. Examples of parallel structure The following sentences all contain a series of items that are parallel. André loves to play golf, tennis and badminton. [3 nouns] Larry drove to the lake, parked and gazed out over the water. [3 verbs] Reading books, playing the piano and going to the theatre are Mie’s favourite activities. [3 gerund phrases] The group travelled by plane, by bus and by car. [3 prepositional phrases] OR The group travelled by plane, bus and car. [3 nouns, sharing by] Melissa hoped to graduate from college, to find a job and to buy a car. [3 infinitive phrases, with to repeated] OR Melissa hoped to graduate from college, find a job and buy a car. [3 infinitive phrases, sharing to] In these sentences, the parallel structure helps to draw attention to the ideas. Faulty parallelism A sentence with faulty parallel structure is unbalanced and less effective, as the faulty examples below illustrate. Faulty: Jason made cake, pie and he baked dumplings. [2 nouns + 1 clause] Correct: Jason made cake, pie and dumplings. [3 nouns] Faulty: Marisa has been skiing, jogging and has been lifting weights. [verb phrase, participle, verb phrase] Correct: Marisa has been skiing, jogging and lifting weights. [3 participles, sharing has been] Faulty: The facts were given with accuracy, clarity and with concision. [phrase, noun, phrase] Correct: The facts were given with accuracy, clarity and concision. [3 nouns, sharing with] Correct: The facts were given with accuracy, with clarity and with concision. [3 prepositional phrases]
Source: Writing Tips Plus (English language problems and rules)
Number of views: 1,071

Test yourself—Excuse me, have you misplaced your modifier?

A quiz on misplaced modifiers, including limiting modifiers and split infinitives.
Are the modifiers in these sentences correct or misplaced? Read the article Excuse me, have you misplaced your modifier? to help you out.1. Did Eve really give her grandfather, for his birthday, an Avril Lavigne concert ticket?correctmisplaced2. The computer system almost cost $2,000, but Michel had enough money saved from his fire-eating gigs to pay the bill in full.correctmisplaced3. Place the plate in front of the diner with the meat, not the vegetables, facing the person.correctmisplaced4. Alice decided to, after a particularly bad week both at work and at home, visit her brother for the weekend.correctmisplaced5. “Acting simply is not valued by the philistines who grant Academy Awards,” Mimi snorted.correctmisplaced6. We had almost thrown all our snowballs when our fort was charged by two frenzied redheads from the opposing team.correctmisplaced7. She loaded the bottles and cans into her husband’s new Porsche 911, which she planned to leave at the recycling centre.correctmisplaced  
Source: Peck’s English Pointers (articles and exercises on the English language)
Number of views: 491

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