Parallelism

Parallel Structure in Sentences

Parallelism is the idea that parts of a sentence such as items in a series should be phrased in the same grammatical way. The famous quote of Julius Caesar is a good example of why parallelism is so powerful.

Parallel Elements could be independent clauses

Parallel: I came; I saw; I conquered.

Here we have three independent clauses (word groups that can stand alone as sentences) in a row with each of them in the simple past tense using the same pronoun. It would be a very different quote if parallelism were not present.

Not Parallel: I came; I saw; they were conquered.

The introduction of the new pronoun, they, is jarring and disrupts the flow of ideas.    

Smaller parts of sentences should also be parallel

Not Parallel: I like going to the beach, to go out to eat, and going to the movies.

Clearly, the phrase to go out to eat is not phrased in the same way as the other two.  Such inconsistencies jar a reader to questioning the credibility or authority of a writer. Good writing requires an even flow.

Parallel: I like going to the beach, going to restaurants, and going to the movies.

Identifying the elements in a series

Sometimes, it is difficult to see the parts of a sentence that should be parallel. Can you see the nonparallel part of the next sentence?

Not Parallel:

The economic problems were caused by lenders who gave mortgages to people who really could not afford them, by credit card companies who approved too much easy credit, and by people borrowing more than they could repay.

The last clause uses an -ing word (borrowing) instead of a subject - verb (who + verb) combination.

Parallel:

The economic problems were caused by lenders who gave mortgages to people who really could not afford them, by credit card companies who approved too much easy credit, and by people who borrowed more than they could repay.

See how each of the elements in the list now includes a clause that begins with the word who.

The economic problems were caused

1. by lenders who gave mortgages to people who really could not afford them
2. by credit card companies who approved too much each credit, and
3. by people who borrowed more than they could repay.

Not Parallel:

John played soccer, but tennis was played by Sonja.

Parallel:

John played soccer, but Sonja played tennis.

Not Parallel:

I like ice cream with chocolate syrup and cake which has buttercream icing on it.

Parallel:

I like ice cream with chocolate syrup and cake with buttercream icing.