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explain

The document explains the concept of parallelism in writing, emphasizing the importance of maintaining consistent grammatical structures within sentences. It provides examples of sentences that lack parallelism, identifies the issues, and offers corrected versions to demonstrate how to achieve parallelism. The key takeaway is that using similar structures for related ideas enhances clarity and flow in writing.

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4 views4 pages

explain

The document explains the concept of parallelism in writing, emphasizing the importance of maintaining consistent grammatical structures within sentences. It provides examples of sentences that lack parallelism, identifies the issues, and offers corrected versions to demonstrate how to achieve parallelism. The key takeaway is that using similar structures for related ideas enhances clarity and flow in writing.

Uploaded by

rossanthonytan130
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Let’s go through these sentences one by one and explain how to fix them for parallelism.

Parallelism means making sure that parts of a sentence match or are the same in structure. Let’s
make these sentences easier to understand!

1. Walking and to swim are good exercise.

Problem: "Walking" is a verb in the -ing form, but "to swim" is an infinitive (with "to"). These
two are not the same.

Corrected:
Walking and swimming are good exercise.

Why it's fixed: Now, both actions ("walking" and "swimming") are in the same -ing form,
which makes the sentence parallel.

2. Pasted on almost every tree and pole, the posters were intended for political
campaigning and to acquaint the voters with the candidate.

Problem: "Political campaigning" is a noun phrase, and "to acquaint" is an infinitive phrase.
These don’t match.

Corrected:
Pasted on almost every tree and pole, the posters were intended for political campaigning
and acquainting the voters with the candidate.

Why it's fixed: Now both actions are in the -ing form ("campaigning" and "acquainting"),
making the sentence parallel.

Corrected Sentence (using noun phrases):

Pasted on almost every tree and pole, the posters were intended for political campaigning and
voter acquaintance with the candidate.

 Now, both parts are noun phrases: "political campaigning" and "voter acquaintance."

3. Drinking hot chocolate for breakfast appeals to me more than coffee.

Why it's not perfectly parallel: You're comparing two actions: "drinking
hot chocolate" and "coffee." The first is a gerund phrase (a verb acting as a
noun), while the second is just a noun. For true parallelism, both should be
the same grammatical structure.
How to improve the parallelism:

Here are a few options to make your sentence more parallel:

 Option 1 (using gerunds): "Drinking hot chocolate for breakfast


appeals to me more than drinking coffee." This is the most
straightforward parallel structure.

4. The prisoners passed us with hanging heads, drooping shoulders, and their
feet shuffled.

Problem: "Hanging heads" and "drooping shoulders" are in the -ing form, but "their feet
shuffled" is a different structure. It’s not in -ing form, so it's not parallel.

Corrected:
The prisoners passed us with hanging heads, drooping shoulders, and shuffled feet.

Why it's fixed: Now all three parts ("hanging heads," "drooping shoulders," and "shuffled feet")
match. They are all noun phrases with adjectives.

6. One day Carl suggested painting our sailboat and to start to practice for the
race.

Problem: "Painting our sailboat" is a gerund (verb in the -ing form), but "to start to practice" is
an infinitive phrase. These don’t match.

Corrected:
One day Carl suggested painting our sailboat and starting to practice for the race.

Why it's fixed: Now both actions are in the -ing form: "painting" and "starting," making the
sentence parallel.

Original Sentence:

"Mrs. Jane was aware of her friend’s lack of experience and that she was not
yet ready for the job."

Why it's a bit awkward:


Imagine you have two friends, Sarah and Tom. You tell someone, "Sarah is
good at math, and Tom is good at drawing." That sounds nice and balanced,
right?

Now imagine you say, "Sarah is good at math, and Tom likes to draw." It
feels a little off, doesn't it? That's because the parts about Sarah and Tom
don't have the same structure.

The original sentence is similar. It says Mrs. Jane knows two things about her
friend:

1. "Her friend’s lack of experience" (This uses a noun phrase).


2. "That she was not yet ready for the job" (This uses a clause).

They don't have the same grammatical "shape," making the sentence a bit
clunky.

More Parallel Version:

"Mrs. Jane was aware of her friend's lack of experience and her friend's
unpreparedness for the job."

How it's better:

Now both parts use noun phrases:

1. "Her friend's lack of experience"


2. "Her friend's unpreparedness for the job"

They both start with "her friend's," making them sound more balanced and
easier to understand.

Key Idea:

Parallel structure is like making sure your sentences are "dressed up" the
same way. Using similar grammatical structures for similar ideas makes your
writing flow better and makes your meaning clearer.

Just like you'd wear matching socks or shoes, you want to match the parts of
your sentences!

Summary of Parallelism:
When we use parallelism, we make sure that things in a list or connected by a word like "and"
or "than" match or are the same in structure. For example, if we start with -ing verbs, we need
to keep using -ing verbs, or if we start with nouns, we need to keep using nouns.

I hope this helps! Do you have any questions about these fixes?

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