Parallelism
Grammar Rules Guide - Chapter 23
Parallelism occurs when compound verbs or verbals express an action taking place at the same time or in the same tense. When such is the case, the verb and/or verbals must be in the same, or parallel, form.
Example: Gail sings and dances. (Sings and dances are parallel forms of the verb.)
Types of Parallel Structure
1) Coordinated ideas of equal rank, connected by and, but, or, or nor.
Correct: Earl loves bicycling and climbing. (A gerund is paired with a gerund.)
Earl loves to bicycle and to climb. (An infinitive is paired with an infinitive.)
Incorrect:
Earl loves bicycling and to climb. (Here, a gerund is paired with an infinitive.)
2) Compared ideas.
Correct:
I like officiating basketball more than playing basketball. (A gerund is paired with a gerund.)
I like to officiate basketball more than I like to play basketball. (An infinitive is paired with an infinitive.)
Incorrect:
I like to officiate basketball more than I like playing basketball. (An infinitive is paired with a gerund.)
3) Correlative ideas are linked with the correlative conjunctions both...and, either...or, neither...nor, and not only...but also.
Correct:
Josh is talented not only as a basketball player, but also as a tennis player. (A noun is paired with a noun.)
Josh is talented not only at playing basketball, but also at playing tennis. (A gerund is paired with a gerund.
Incorrect:
Josh is talented not only as a basketball player, but also at playing tennis. (A noun is paired with a gerund.)
Tip - Place correlative conjunctions immediately before the parallel terms:
Incorrect:
Brad has both experienced the sweet taste of success and the bitterness of defeat
Revised:
Brad has experienced both the sweet taste of success and the bitterness of defeat.
Grammar Rules Guide Index
Active and Passive Voice - Chapter 1
Adjective, Adverb, and Noun Clauses - Chapter 2
Adjectives - Chapter 3
Adverbs - Chapter 4
Appositives - Chapter 5
Auxiliary Verbs - Chapter 6
Common and Proper Nouns - Chapter 7
Comparatives and Superlatives - Chapter 8
Complements - Chapter 9
Conjunctions - Chapter 10
Conjunctive Adverbs - Chapter 11
Dangling Modifiers - Chapter 12
Direct and Indirect Objects - Chapter 13
Fused Sentences, Run-Ons, and Comma Splices - Chapter 14
Homophones - Chapter 15
Independent and Dependent Clauses - Chapter 16
Interjections - Chapter 17
Mass and Count Nouns - Chapter 18
Misplaced Modifiers - Chapter 19
Noun and Pronoun Case - Chapter 20
Noun and Verb Phrases - Chapter 21
Nouns - Chapter 22
Parallelism - Chapter 23
Perfect and Progressive Verb Forms - Chapter 24
Prepositional Phrases - Chapter 25
Prepositions - Chapter 26
Principal Parts of Verbs - Chapter 27
Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement - Chapter 28
Pronouns - Chapter 29
Regular and Irregular Verbs - Chapter 30
Relative Clauses - Chapter 31
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Clauses - Chapter 32
Sentence Fragments - Chapter 33
Sentence Types - Chapter 34
Subjects and Predicates - Chapter 35
Verb Mood - Chapter 36
Verbals and Verbal Phrases - Chapter 37
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