Parallelism
Parallelism means matching grammatical structures: elements in a sentence that have the same function should be grammatically matched — nouns with nouns, gerunds with gerunds, infinitives with infinitives, clauses with clauses. A failure to do this is faulty parallelism.
| Faulty | Parallel |
|---|---|
| He described skiing, swimming, and the drive across the desert. | He described skiing, swimming, and driving across the desert. |
| The president promised to reform health care, preserve security, and a balanced budget. | …to reform health care, preserve security, and balance the budget. |
| What counts isn't how you look but your behavior. | What counts isn't how you look but how you behave. |
Watch these situations:
In a series: keep every item the same form (a beer, exchanging stories… → all gerunds, or all infinitives).
With articles/pronouns (a, the, their): use the marker with the first item only, or repeat it with every item — not just some.
In comparisons: compare like with like (schools in the rural area with schools in the inner city, not the inner city).
With correlative conjunctions (either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also): the structure after the second half must mirror the first (not only the article but also the statement).
With verbs: don't shift tense or from active to passive unnecessarily (Kate prepared the speech and delivered it — both active).
Tip: When you write a list or use either…or / not only…but also, check that each item has the same grammatical form. Read the items back to back to hear any mismatch.
Common mistake: Mixing forms in a series — eating only meat, consuming rice, smoothies every morning, and fasting. Make every item parallel: …drinking smoothies every morning….
✏️ Test Yourself
1. "running, swimming, and to ride" or "running, swimming, and riding"?
2. Matching nouns with nouns and verbs with verbs is called ___ .
3. After "not only … but also", the two parts must be grammatically ___ .
4. "Kate prepared the speech and it was delivered by her" shows ___ parallelism.
📒 Words to learn
Meaning — the use of matching grammatical structures
“Parallelism makes a list balanced and clear.”
Meaning — containing a mistake or flaw
“Faulty parallelism mixes grammatical forms in a list.”
Meaning — an -ing verb form used as a noun
“Keep gerunds parallel with other gerunds.”
Meaning — the base form of a verb with 'to'
“Match infinitives with infinitives in a series.”
Meaning — (of conjunctions) working in pairs, like either...or
“Correlative conjunctions need parallel structures.”