The document discusses parallelism in writing, which is the matching of grammatical structures in a sentence to lend rhythm and avoid repetition. It provides examples of parallel versus non-parallel constructions using parts of speech like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Five rules for observing parallel structure are outlined, such as using the same grammatical form for elements in a list, when comparing elements, after linking verbs, and with correlative conjunctions. Maintaining parallelism helps create refined and coherent writing.

1. PARALLELISM

7. PARALLELISM
OR PARALLEL STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES
 matching of grammatical structures in a sentence.
 It lends a rhythm, a refinement to what is being written and helps
avoid repetition.

8. NOT SO GOOD
Sam has a pen in his bag.
Sam has a pencil in his bag.
Sam has two books in his bag.

9. BETTER
Sam has a pen, a pencil and two
books in his bag.

10. WORDS USED TO DESCRIBE IDENTICAL
CONCEPTS SHOULD BE GRAMMATICALLY
IDENTICAL.
 Reena is a good dancer but average at acting. Not Parallel
 Reena is a good dancer but an average actor.
 Reena is good at dancing but average at acting.
 Parallelism requires that nouns should be similar to nouns, gerunds
with gerunds, participles with participles and so on.
 It requires that ideas or concepts should be put together using
the same structure.

11. NOUNS:
 Tom is known for his honesty and original ideas. (Χ)
 Tom is known for his honesty and originality. (√)

12. VERBS:
 My previous company has moved and is selling their office space.
(Χ)
 My previous company has moved and sold their office space. (√)
 My previous company is moving and selling their office space. (√)

13. ADJECTIVES:
 She is charming, courteous and a beauty. (Χ)
 She is charming, courteous and beautiful.(√)

14. ADVERBS:
 Sam does his work neatly and with care. (Χ)
 Sam does his work neatly and carefully. (√)

15. FIVE RULES
1) BE CAREFUL WHILE USING
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS.
 To lead a healthy life, sleep for eight hours and eating a balanced diet
are important. (Χ)
 To lead a healthy life, it is important to sleep for eight hours and eat a
balanced diet. (√)
 To lead a healthy life, sleeping for eight hours and eating a balanced
diet are important. (√)


16. 2) OBSERVE PARALLEL STRUCTURE WHEN
ELEMENTS ARE IN A LIST OR IN A SERIES.
 Traditional societies believed the king to be a religious, a political, a
social and head of the military forces. (Χ)
 Traditional societies believed the king to be a religious, political,
social and a military head. (√)

17. 3) OBSERVE PARALLEL STRUCTURE OF
SENTENCES WHILE COMPARING ELEMENTS.
 I like to read books over watching movies. (Χ)
I like reading books over watching movies.
(√)

18. 4) PARALLEL STRUCTURE HAS TO BE
OBSERVED WHEN ELEMENTS ARE JOINED
BY A LINKING VERB OR ANY FORM OF ‘BE’.

 ‘To succeed is thriving ’- is our motto. (Χ)
 ‘To succeed is to thrive’- is our motto. (√)

19. 5) PARALLEL STRUCTURE IS ALSO TO BE
OBSERVED WHILE USING CORRELATIVE
CONJUNCTIONS.
 Sweena wants both a satisfying job and that pays well. (Χ)
 Sweena wants both a satisfying and a well paying job. (√)

20. REFERENCES
 Geraldine Woods (2006): English Grammar Workbook For
Dummies. Indiana: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
 Parallel
Form; http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/parallelism.h
tm
 Images from google images