Test Yourself

Parallel Construction

[Harbrace 10] 

Review

• Introduction: Parallelism 
• Examples of Parallel Construction 
• Guidelines for Avoiding Faulty Parallelism 

Practice Exercises

• Identifying Parallel and Faulty Constructions
• Identifying Faulty Sentences

Introduction

Parallel construction, or parallelism, means that a pair or series of elements share the same grammatical form. 

Parallel construction helps the writer state comparable ideas clearly and forcefully.

Use parallelism for pairs or for elements listed in a series and joined by conjunctions, commas, or semicolons. 

Improve your use of parallelism by matching like elements -- noun with noun, verb with verb, clauses and phrases with others of the same type -- and by repeating words that signal parallelism, such as articles or determiners, prepositions, and conjunctions.

Examples of Parallel Construction [Harbrace 10a] 

• Words in Parallel Form 

She likes skiing, camping, and hiking. 

• Phrases in Parallel Form 

To work hard and to play hard were Claire's goals. 

The senator shook hands with the mayor, waved to the crowd, and stepped back into the car. 

• Clauses in Parallel Form 

When the battle is won, when the earth is at peace, when people are equal under justice, then we will enjoy the fruits of our struggle. 

Guidelines for Avoiding Faulty Parallelism [Harbrace 10b & 10c] 

• Avoid faulty parallelism with and, who, or and which constructions: 

He works for Nova Corporation, a high-technology corporation and which is an innovator. 

REVISED:
He works for Nova Corporation, an innovative high-technology corporation. 

• Avoid faulty parallelism with either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, both/or, and whether/or. 

She is not only intelligent but also has wealth. 

REVISED:
She is not only intelligent but also wealthy. 

OR

She has not only intelligence but also wealth. 
 

Neither your mother plays tennis nor your father. 

REVISED:
Neither your mother nor your father plays tennis.