PARALLELISM
Parallelism in writing means that similar parts in a sentence have the same structure: Their parts are
balanced. Use nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, and phrases with phrases.
NOT PARALLEL I enjoy basketball more than playing video games.
[Basketball is a noun, but playing video games is a phrase.]
PARALLEL I enjoy basketball more than video games.
PARALLEL I enjoy playing basketball more than playing video games.
NOT PARALLEL Last night, I worked, studied, and was watching television.
[Verbs must be in the same tense to be parallel. Was watching has a different
structure from worked and studied.]
PARALLEL Last night, I worked, studied, and watched television.
PARALLEL Last night, I was working, studying, and watching television.
NOT PARALLEL This weekend, we can go to the beach or walking in the mountains.
[To the beach should be paired with another prepositional phrase: to the
mountains.]
PARALLEL This weekend, we can go to the beach or to the mountains.
When two or more items in a series are joined by the word and or or, use a similar form for each item.
NOT PARALLEL The professor assigned a chapter to read, practices to do, and writing a paper.
PARALLEL The professor assigned a chapter to read, practices to do, and a paper to write.
NOT PARALLEL The story was in the newspaper, on the radio, and the television.
[In the newspaper and on the radio are prepositional phrases. The television is
not.]
PARALLEL The story was in the newspaper, on the radio, and on the television.
Exercise 1: In each sentence, underline the parts of the sentence that should be parallel. Then, edit the
sentence to make it parallel.
1. Wild predators, such as wolves, are vanishing because people hunt them and are taking over their
land.
2. Coyotes are surviving and they do well in the modern United States.
3. The success of the coyote is due to its varied diet and adapting easily.
4. Coyotes are sometimes vegetarians, sometimes scavengers, and sometimes they hunt.
5. Today, they are spreading and populate the East Coast for the first time.
6. The coyotes’ appearance surprises and is worrying many people.
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7. The animals have chosen an area that is more populated and it’s not as wild as their traditional
home.
8. Coyotes can adapt to rural, suburban, or even living in a city.
9. One coyote was identified, tracked, and they captured him in Central Park in New York City.
10. Suburbanites are getting used to the sight of coyotes and hearing them.
Parallelism in Comparisons
In comparisons, the items being compared should have parallel structures. Comparisons often use the
word than or as. When you edit for parallelism, make sure that the items on either side of those words
are parallel.
NOT PARALLEL Driving downtown is as fast as the bus.
PARALLEL Driving downtown is as fast as taking the bus.
NOT PARALLEL To admit a mistake is better than denying it.
PARALLEL To admit a mistake is better than to deny it.
Admitting a mistake is better than denying it.
Sometimes you need to add or delete a word or two to make the parts of a
sentence parallel.
NOT PARALLEL A tour package is less expensive than arranging every travel detail yourself.
PARALLEL, Buying a tour package is less expensive than arranging every travel detail
yourself.
NOT PARALLEL The sale price of the shoes is as low as paying the regular price for two pairs.
PARALLEL, The sale price of the shoes is as low as the regular price
Exercise 2: In each sentence, underline the parts of the sentence that should be parallel. Then, edit the
sentence to make it parallel.
1. Car dealers often require less money down for leasing a car than for the purchase of one.
2. The monthly payments for a leased car may be as low as paying for a loan.
3. You should check the terms of leasing to make sure they are as favorable as to buy.
4. You may find that to lease is a safer bet than buying.
5. You will be making less of a financial commitment by leasing a car than
to own it.
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6. Buying a car may be better than a lease on one if you plan to keep it for several years.
7. A used car can be more economical than getting a new one.
8. However, maintenance of a new car may be easier than taking care of a used car.
9. A used car may not be as impressive as buying a brand-new vehicle.
10. To get a used car from a reputable source can be a better decision than a new vehicle that loses
value the moment you drive it home.
Parallelism with Certain Paired Words
When a sentence uses certain paired words, called correlative conjunctions, the items joined by them
must be parallel. These words link two equal elements and show the relationship between them. Here
are the paired words:
both . . . and
neither . . . nor
rather . . . than
either . . . or
not only . . . but also
When you use the first part of a pair, be sure you always use the second part, too.
NOT PARALLEL Bruce wants both freedom and to be wealthy.
[Both is used with and, but the items joined by them are not parallel.]
PARALLEL Bruce wants both freedom and wealth.
PARALLEL Bruce wants both to have freedom and to be wealthy.
NOT PARALLEL He can neither fail the course and quitting his job is also impossible.
PARALLEL He can neither fail the course nor quit his job.
Exercise 3: In each sentence, circle the paired words and underline the parts of the sentence that
should be parallel. Then, edit the sentence to make it parallel. You may need to change one of the
paired elements to make the sentence parallel
1. Fifteen years ago, most people neither had cell phones nor did they want them.
2. Today, cell phones are not only used by people of all ages but also are carried everywhere.
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3. Cell phones are not universally popular: Some commuters would rather ban cell phones on buses
and trains than being forced to listen to other people’s conversations.
4. No one denies that a cell phone can be both useful and convenience is a factor.
5. A motorist stranded on a deserted road would rather have a cell phone than to walk to the nearest
gas station.
6. When cell phones were first introduced, some people feared that they either caused brain tumors or
they were a dangerous source of radiation.
7. Most Americans today neither worry about radiation from cell phones nor other injuries.
8. The biggest risk of cell phones is either that drivers are distracted by them or people getting angry at
someone talking too loudly in public on a cell phone.
9. Cell phones probably do not cause brain tumors, but some experiments on human cells have shown
that energy from the phones may both affect people’s reflexes and it might alter the brain’s blood
vessels.
10. Some scientists think that these experiments show that cell phone use might have not only physical
effects on human beings but it also could influence mental processes.
PRACTICE
Exercise 4: Decide which answer will complete each sentence by putting ideas in parallel form.
1. Evaluate the television programs you watch by considering their purpose, presentation and… .
(a) whether there is an educational value (b) their having an educational value
(c) educational value
2. … and mowing the lawn are my least favorite chores.
(a) The dishes (b) Washing the dishes (c) To wash the dishes
3. Singing in an opera requires more training than .
(a) in a school choir (b) singing in a school choir (c) a school choir
4. Being interested in the subject and studied hard, he should do very well on the test.
(a) having (b) because he has (c) since he has
5. Either … or after work, please stop by the store.
(a) when you go to dance class (b) before going to dance class (c) on your way to dance class
6. …through the state park would be more fun than just driving through it.
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(a) A hike (b) Hiking (c) To go on a hike
7. The speaker’s voice was not only slow and soft but also .
(a) it had a monotonous tone (b) was monotonous in tone (c) monotonous in tone
8. To hike cross-country, travel by camper, or are my mother’s preferred choices for a vacation...
(a) to go deep-sea fishing (b) deep-sea fishing (c) going deep-sea fishing
9. I like reading a good book as much as …
(a) to watch television (b) watching television (c) I like to watch television
10. Quickly but … the senator answered the question.
(a) thoroughly (b) with thoroughness (c) being thorough
11. … cross-country on a motorcycle would be exciting for many people.
(a) To go riding (b) Riding (c) A ride
12. The townspeople considered her a wealthy woman and ...
(a) character of legendary dimensions. (b) a legend in her own time.
(c) legendary character.
13. Flying an airplane requires more skill than...
(a) a car. (b) driving a car. (c) to drive a car.
14. And seeing a great film are my favorite pastimes.
(a) An interesting book (b) To read an interesting book (c) Reading an interesting book
15. She convinced her brothers to mortgage their home and in more land.
(a) to invest (b) make an investment (c) try investing
Exercise 5: Correct faulty parallelisms
1. Police dogs are used for finding lost children, tracking criminals, and the detection of bombs and
illegal drugs.
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2. Hannah told her rock-climbing partner that she bought a new harness and of her desire to climb
Otter Cliffs.
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3. It is more difficult to sustain an exercise program than starting one.
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Jan wanted to drive to the wine country or at least Sausalito.
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Activities on Wednesday afternoons include fishing trips, dance lessons, and computers.
_________________________________________________________________________________
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6. Arriving at Lake Powell in a thunderstorm, the campers found it safer to remain in their cars than
setting up their tents.
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7. The streets were not only too steep but also were too narrow for anything other than pedestrian
traffic.
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8. More digital artists in the show are from the South Shore than the North Shore.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 6: Find and correct five parallelism errors in the following paragraphs.
(1) On a mountainous island between Norway and the North Pole is a special underground vault. (2) It
contains neither gold and other currency. (3) Instead, it is full of a different kind of treasure: seeds. (4)
They are being saved for the future in case something happens to the plants that people need to grow
for food.
(5) More than 4.5 million types of seeds occupy this enormous vault. (6) Each sample has
between one hundred and five hundred seeds, which means that the vault contains approximately 2.25
billion seeds. (7) To store them is better than planting them. (8) Stored, they are preserved for future
generations to plant. (9) On the first day that the vault’s storage program began, 268,000 different
seeds were deposited, put into sealed packages, and collecting into sealed boxes. (10) Some of
the seeds were for maize (corn), while others were for rice, wheat, and barley.
(11) Although some people call it the “Doomsday Vault,” many others see it as a type of
insurance policy against starvation, in the case of a terrible natural disaster. (12) The vault’s location
keeps it safe from floods, earthquakes, and storming. (13) Carefully storing these seeds not only will
help ensure that people will have food to eat plus make sure that important crops never go extinct.
