Using Parallelism in Writing

Parallelism
• The use of matching words, phrases, clauses
or sentences to express equivalent ideas.

Why?
• To add unity, balance, and force to your writing.
• Faulty parallelism creates awkward sentences that
obscure meaning and create confusion.

Using Parallelism
Effectively
Parallelism:
• Emphasises relationships among equivalent ideas.
• Highlights the correspondence between:
1. Items in a series
2. Paired items
3. Elements in lists and outlines.

Items in a Series:
• Coordinate elements — words, phrases, or clauses
should be presented in parallel form.
1
Using Parallelism
Effectively

1
Using Parallelism
Effectively
Items in a Series:
Baby food consumption, toy production, and school
construction are likely to decline as the population of
the Netherlands grows older.

1
Using Parallelism
EffectivelyItems in a Series:
Three factors influenced his decision to seek new
employment: his desire to relocate, his need for
greater responsibility, and his dissatisfaction with his
current job.

Paired Items:
• Paired points or ideas (words, phrases, or clauses)
should be presented in parallel form.
• Parallelism emphasises their equivalence and
connects the two ideas.
2
Using Parallelism
Effectively

2
Paired Items:
Roosevelt represented the United States, and Churchill
represented Great Britain.
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what
you can do for your country.
Using Parallelism
Effectively

Paired Items:
• Items linked by correlating conjunctions (such as
not only/but also, both/and, either/or and
neither/nor should be parallel.
The design team paid close attention not only to color,
but also to texture.
2
Using Parallelism
Effectively

Paired Items:
• Parallelism highlights the contrast between paired
elements linked by than or as.
Success is as much a matter of hard work as a matter of
luck.
2
Using Parallelism
Effectively

3
• Items in a list should be presented in parallel form.
Using Parallelism
Effectively

3
The Irish potato famine had four major causes:
1. The establishment of the landlord-tenant system
2. The failure of the potato crop
3. The inadequate financial support by England
4. The passage of the corn laws
Using Parallelism
Effectively

Revising
Faulty Parallelism
• Faulty parallelism occurs when equivalent ideas in a
sentence are not presented in parallel form.

Revising
Faulty Parallelism
Faulty:
Many people in developing countries suffer because
the countries lack sufficient housing to accommodate
them, sufficient food to feed them, and their healthcare
facilities areinadequate.

Revising
Faulty Parallelism
Revised:
Many people in developing countries suffer because
the countries lack sufficient housing to accommodate
them, sufficient food to feed them, and sufficient
health-care facilities to serve them.

Using Parallel Elements:
Faulty parallelism can be revised by matching nouns with
nouns, verbs with verbs, and phrases and clauses with
similarly constructed phrases and clauses.
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Revising
Faulty Parallelism

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Revising
Faulty ParallelismFaulty:
Popular exercises for men and women include
spinning, weight lifters, and jogging.
Revised:
Popular exercises for men and women include

Repeating Key Words:
Sentences are often clearer and more emphatic if certain
keywords (articles, prepositions, and the to in infinitives,
for example) are repeated in each element of a pair or
series.
2
Revising
Faulty Parallelism

2
Revising
Faulty Parallelism
Faulty:
Computerization has helped industry by not allowing labor
costs to skyrocket, increasing the speed of production, and
improving efficiency.
Revised:
Computerization has helped industry by not allowing labor

3
Revising
Faulty ParallelismRepeating Relative Pronouns:
The relative pronoun constructions who(m) … and
who(m), and which … and which are always paired and
always introduce parallel clauses. When you revise,
check to be sure a relative pronoun introduces each

Revising
Faulty Parallelism
Faulty:
The Thing, directed by Howard Hawks, and which was
released in 1951, featured James Arness as the monster.
Revised:
The Thing, which was directed by Howard Hawks and
which was released in 1951, featured James Arness as the
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Using Parallelism in Writing

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