Maintaining Parallel Structure - A Brief Interactive Tutorial with Exercises
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Parallel Structure – like grammatical structure of words, phrases, and clauses.
Maintaining parallel structure anticipates the reaction of the reader. Make sure you keep the same parts of speech throughout your series.
Parallelism in Sentences
Non Parallel: The classroom was hot, cramped, and stuffy, whereas the green was cool, full of fresh air, and not cramped.
Parallel: The classroom was hot, cramped, and stuffy, whereas the green was cool, open, and breezy.
In the non-parallel example, the first half of the sentence sets up the structure (hot, cramped, and stuffy). The reader therefore expects the second half to mirror the first. Instead, the last two items in the series (full of fresh air, and not cramped) are not single-word adjectives.
In the parallel example, the items in the series are all single-word adjectives and directly contrast each other.
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If you start out with items in a series using the infinitive form, switching to an -ing ending disrupts the breaks the momentum of the sentence, much like waking up from a dream.
Non Parallel: Annie likes to fish, to run, and sightseeing.
Parallel: Annie likes to fish, to run, and to sightsee.
Annie enjoys fishing, running, and sightseeing.
In the non-parallel example, the first two verbs (to fish, to run) are infinitives. The reader subconsciously anticipates the next item will also be an infinitive; sadly, however, it isn’t. The writer has derailed the sentence – and the reader – by throwing the gerund on the track.
The two parallel examples maintain the same verb forms; the sentences read smoothly.
Parallelism in Paragraphs
Just as parallelism is used within sentences to improve the flow of ideas, parallelism used in paragraphs also improves fluency. In the 6th edition of A Writer’s Reference, Diana Hacker states that paragraph parallelism “may also be used to bind together a series of sentences expressing similar information” (33). The following is the example used in Diana Hacker’s, 6th edition.
Actually, almost every day, even in the most sophisticated home, something is likely to happen that evokes the memory of some old folk belief. The salt spills. A knife falls to the floor. Your nose tickles. Then perhaps, with a slightly embarrassed smile, the person who spilled the salt tosses a pinch over his left shoulder. Or someone recites the old rhyme, “Knife falls, gentleman calls.” Or as you rub your nose you think, That means a letter. I wonder who’s writing?
-- Margaret Mead, “New Superstitions for Old”
Hopefully, you noticed some of the parallel structures in this sample paragraph.
“The salt spills.” “A knife falls.” “Your nose tickles.”
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Here is an except from the “I Have a Dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 23, 1963. Considered a model of effective communication, the repetition of the phrase “now is the time” builds momentum and creates a sense of immediacy.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
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Here is one more example:
“God bless us. God bless Catholic and Jesuit higher education. God bless the University of Scranton” (Fr. Pilarz).
Parallelism in Headings
Finally, remember parallel structure when writing headings. You can format your headings as noun, questions, or gerunds (–ing phrases that function as nouns), just make sure you remain consistent.
| Nouns as Headings | Questions as Headings | Gerunds as Headings |
| Plan Draft Revise Edit Proofread |
How Do I Plan an Essay? How Do I Draft an Essay? How Do I Revise an Essay? How Do I Edit an Essay? How Do I Proofread an Essay? |
Planning Drafting Revising Editing Proofreading |
For more in-depth help with understanding parallel structure, visit
The Writing Center
Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence
St. Thomas Hall, Harper-McGinnis Wing, Room 588 D
http://www.scranton.edu/ctle
(570) 941-6147