A quadrilateral is a shape with four sides, four angles, and four vertices. Quadrilaterals are common in everyday life, appearing in floors, walls, windows, and books. Parallelograms are quadrilaterals where opposite sides are parallel and equal in length; specific types include rectangles, squares, and rhombi. Properties of parallelograms include having diagonals that bisect each other and divide the shape into two congruent triangles.