Parallelism in Writing

Writers often attempt to engage their readers through variety in several aspects like word choice, sentence structure, and sentence length. However, what makes a piece of writing inch closer to perfection is the rhythm or pattern in the way words are strung together. To achieve this rhythm or pattern, one must ensure parallelism, or parallel sentence structure, in their writing.

What is Parallelism?

Parallelism, or parallel structure, is the way writing is presented such that similar elements of a sentence possess the same grammatical form. This essentially translates to using single words parallelly with single words, clauses parallelly with clauses, and phrases parallelly with phrases. 

It also means making sure that:

• If the sentence has multiple subjects, all of them occur in either the noun form or the noun phrase form
• If the sentence has multiple verbs, all of them appear in either the gerund form or the infinitive verb form
• If the sentence has prepositional phrases, all of them occur without verbs in between (when such a phrase includes a verb, it becomes a clause)

Why is Parallelism Important?

Parallelism, or parallel structure, is crucial in writing for these important reasons:

• It ensures smooth readability. Parallel structure leads to word patterns, which in turn simplify sentences and make them easy to follow. In the absence of parallelism, any piece of text ends up becoming choppy and awkward.
• Parallel structure makes writing aesthetically pleasing to the reader because all sentence elements are balanced. 
• Parallelism can help writers convey that two or more ideas have the same importance. This can be done by ensuring the same grammatical form for such elements in the sentence.
• Parallel structure assists writers in emphasizing the relationship between multiple ideas, allowing for comparisons and contrasts.

Handy Rules for Parallelism in a Sentence

Here are some important rules to keep in mind while ensuring parallel structure in writing.

1. The same part of speech must be used to express parallel elements of thought – a noun must be balanced with a noun, an adjective with an adjective, a verb with a verb, and so on.

For example:

Incorrect: Rita approaches cooking cheerfully and with enthusiasm.

The above sentence lacks parallel structure as it uses the adverb cheerfully and the prepositional phrase with enthusiasm to describe how Rita approaches cooking. The sentence structure can be made parallel in any of the following two ways:

Correct: Rita approaches cooking cheerfully and enthusiastically.

Here, the prepositional phrase with enthusiasm has been replaced with the adverb enthusiastically for parallel sentence structure. 

Correct: Rita approaches cooking with cheer and enthusiasm.

Here, the adverb cheerfully has been replaced with the prepositional phrase with cheer to ensure parallelism.

2. When an element of a sentence is expressed using a particular part of speech, the same form of that part of speech must be used to express all other elements in the sentence.

For example:

Incorrect: Rodney loves swimming and to party.

The absence of parallelism, also known as faulty parallelism, is apparent in the above sentence. It uses two different forms of verbs (swimming, to party) and hence reads awkwardly. 

To ensure parallel construction, the sentence can be rephrased in the following two ways:

Correct: Rodney loves to swim and party.

Here, the sentence construction has been made parallel using infinitive phrases (to swim, to party).

Correct: Rodney loves swimming and partying.

Here, the sentence has been made parallel using the gerund (-ing) form of the verbs (swimming, partying).

3. Parallelism must be ensured for words, phrases, or clauses joined by:

• Coordinating conjunctions, or FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, yet, so)
• Correlative conjunctions like either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also
• Comparing words like as or than

Example 1: Parallelism with coordinating conjunctions

Incorrect: Misbehaving at school can lead to suspension or being expelled.

The above sentence lacks parallelism as it uses different parts of speech – the noun suspension and the verb being expelled – on either side of the coordinating conjunction or to list the consequences of misbehaving at school. 

To make the sentence parallel, both words must be either in the noun form or in the verb form as shown below:

Correct: Misbehaving at school can lead to suspension or expulsion.

The words on either side of the coordinating conjunction or are now noun forms, thus making the sentence parallel.

Correct: Misbehaving at school can lead to being suspended or expelled.

Here, the words on either side of the coordinating conjunction or are verb forms. The sentence is now parallel.

Example 2: Parallelism with correlative conjunctions

Incorrect: Not only is Trevor a great singer, but also an excellent dancer.

The faulty parallelism in this sentence may not be obvious at first glance. Is Trevor a great singer contains both the subject Trevor and the verb is; an excellent dancer contains neither. Thus, to ensure parallel sentence structure, the sentence can be rewritten as:

Correct: Trevor is not only a great singer but also an excellent dancer.

Here, the subject Trevor and the verb is have been moved outside the sections that must be parallel, thus making the elements a great singer and an excellent dancer parallel.

The sentence can also be written in this way for parallel structure:

Correct: Not only is Trevor a great singer but he is also an excellent dancer.

Each clause in the above sentence has a subject and a verb and is thus parallel.

Example 3: Parallelism with comparing words

Incorrect: Working out at home is more convenient than the gym.

The things being compared in the above sentence are working out at home, which is a verb phrase, and the gym, which is a noun.

The sentence can be made parallel by rephrasing it so that the same parts of speech are compared:

Correct: Working out at home is more convenient than working out at the gym.

Now, the verb phrase working out at home is being compared with the verb phrase working out at the gym, making the sentence parallel.

4. All elements in a list, either following a colon or in a single sentence, are coordinate and hence must be in the same grammatical form. The same is the case with all the headings of an academic essay or research paper.

Example 1:

• • The Church exercised great control over peasants’ lives
  • Feudalism decided the structure of the social classes
  • Focus of architecture on defense rather than aesthetics
  • Education only meant for Lords and Nobles

The above list, which comprises a list of distinct features of the Middle Ages, is not parallel. The first two sentences are complete with the presence of a verb, while the third and fourth are incomplete without a verb. The list can be made parallel in either of the two ways below:

• • The Church exercised great control over peasants’ lives.
  • Feudalism decided the structure of the social classes.
  • Focus of architecture was on defense rather than on aesthetics.
  • Only Lords and Nobles received education.

Here, all sentences have been rewritten as complete sentences (with verbs) to ensure parallelism.

• • Control of the Church over peasants’ lives 
  • Influence of feudalism on the structure of social classes
  • Focus of architecture on defense rather than aesthetics
  • Education received only by Lords and Nobles

Here, all sentences have been rewritten as phrases to ensure parallelism.

Example 2: List in a single sentence

Incorrect: She likes melons, berries, and walking.

This sentence lacks parallelism because the items in the list are not in the same grammatical form. Melons and berries are nouns, while walking is a verb in the gerund (-ing) form.

Correct: She likes melons, berries, and walks.

The items in the list are now all nouns. Thus, the sentence is parallel.

Correct: She likes eating melons, eating berries, and walking.

The items in the list are now all verbs in the gerund form, making the sentence structure parallel.

5. A sentence beginning in active voice must continue in active voice. The same goes with a sentence in passive voice.

For example:

Incorrect: Employees are expected to participate in team meetings, to provide suggestions for improving existing processes, and that daily updates would be given about their work.

The last part of the sentence above has changed from active voice to passive voice “would be given,” thus leading to faulty parallelism. To ensure parallel construction, it must be rephrased in active voice as follows:

Correct: Employees are expected to participate in team meetings, provide suggestions for improving existing processes, and give daily updates about their work.

Parallelism in Rhetoric

Besides being used to balance sentence structure, parallelism is also popular in rhetoric. It helps writers draw readers’ attention by repeating one or more words at the beginning of consecutive clauses – a type of parallelism known as anaphora. 

Some well-known uses of parallelism in rhetoric:

The very first paragraph in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.“

Sections from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech like this one:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

This excerpt from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address:

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Tips to Check for Faulty Parallelism while Writing

• After completing a piece of writing, it’s a good idea to skim the piece and pause where coordinating conjunctions like or and and occur. One must observe the elements on either side of the conjunction and check if they are parallel. If not, one must rephrase those sentences to ensure parallelism.
• In the event that there are many items listed in a sentence, it is useful to place them in a column one below the other to identify any absence of parallel structure. Once the elements that are not parallel are identified, they can be revised.
• One can also read the sentence(s) out loud to identify any breaks in rhythm and flow. If there is a break in rhythm or sound repetition, chances are there is a break in parallel structure too. Parallelism issues are often easily identifiable to make one wince while reading.

Ensuring parallel structure in a piece of writing not only makes it grammatically sound but also improves its readability considerably, thus helping readers stay engrossed in a text for longer.