Parallelism in Good Writing

Parallelism is the use of identical patterns of words to express related ideas. This enables the writer to highlight or to emphasize information and to present ideas with brevity, impact, and clarity. Without parallelism, writing can become labored and confusing.  With it, writing becomes cogent, compelling and persuasive.

Some of the celebrated historical quotations that have inspired entire generations have made use of parallelisms. The Gettysburg speech made elegant use of parallelism (“government of the people, by the people, for the people”) using a noun (‘government’) modified by a series of prepositional phrases of the people, by the people, for the people, all adding emphasis to the word ‘people’.

Other noteworthy quotation that springs to the mind immediately is what John F. Kennedy said. “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” The cadence of the parallelism makes a ready impact on the reader.

We connect parallel structures and correlate those using coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet, not only… but also, either…or), and make sure that each structure follows the same grammatical pattern. If the first item you list is a noun, write the subsequent items as nouns too. If the first item is an infinitive verb or a dependent clause, treat the subsequent items similarly. If you mix nouns and verbs or voice of verbs (active and passive voice) your sentence will not be parallel.

Now, let’s consider sentences written with structures that aren’t parallel:

1. Lakshmi is responsible for clearing the table, cleaning the dishes, and to keep an eye on the customers.
2. She had a strong desire to pursue music and for studying literature, apart from learning to dance.
3. Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now we use the hands-on approach.
4. The marketing manager expected that he would present his product at the meeting, and that questions would be asked by interested buyers.
5. My teacher showed us what to research and to use online search engines.
6. A time not for rhetoric, but action.
7. My objections are, first, the harshness of the proposed step, and second, that it doesn’t follow the rules.

With parallel structures, they would read

1. Lakshmi is responsible for clearing the table, cleaning the dishes and keeping an eye on the customers.
2. She had a strong desire to pursue music, study literature and learn dancing.
3. Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the hands-on method. or Formerly, we used the textbook method to teach, whereas now we use the hands-on method.
4. The marketing manager expected that he would present his product at the meeting, and that interested buyers would ask him questions.
5. My teacher showed us what to research and how to use online search engines.
6. A time not for rhetoric, but for action.
7. My objections are, first, that the proposed step is harsh and second, that it doesn’t follow the rules.

 It is important to observe parallelism even while making bulleted list. Consider, for example, an advertisement enlisting the benefits of massage.

• Helps relieve stress and aids relaxation
• Decreased anxiety
• enhanced sleep quality.
• greater energy
• helps relieve muscle tension and stiffness.

Note the absence of consistency in using full-stops and capitalizing the initial letters. I’d edit it to read as follows.

• Relieves stress and aids relaxation.
• Decreases anxiety.
• Enhances sleep quality.
• Provides greater energy.
• Relieves muscle tension and stiffness

If you are using an article, verb or a preposition that applies to all the members of a series, it must be used either before the first term only or be repeated before each term. You cannot use in some and leave out in others.

The following examples show the incorrect and the correct versions.

• I bought a car that was compact and sturdy and that did not cost too much money.

I bought a car that was compact, sturdy and inexpensive.

• In spring, summer, or in winter

In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter)

• Usha felt the movie was boring, silly, and was tortuously too long.

Usha felt the movie was boring, silly and tortuously long.

• Like the constantly changing road maps that reflect new constructions as well as roads taken out of service, dictionaries delete archaic words and introduce newer ones.

Like road maps that change constantly reflecting new constructions as well as roads taken out of service, dictionaries delete archaic words and introduce newer ones.