1. Parallel Form By Alfred Taylor 1www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com

2. Parallel Form Many students feel that parallel form is a concept that only a rocket scientist could understand; however, parallel form is actually quite easy once students learn the parts of speech and learn how to spot grammatical patterns. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com2

3. Parallel Form Parallelism utilizes the same or similar grammatical form or structure to relate ideas of equal importance. Parallelism increases coherence by breaking ideas into elements of similar grammatical form. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com3

4. Parallel Form Is this sentence in parallel form? She enjoys reading, to play piano, and hard work. Before determining if it is parallel, the grammatical structure of each clause must be identified. “reading” is a present participle. “to play piano” is an infinitive + a noun “hard work” is an adjective + a noun www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com4

5. Parallel Form Since parallelism has been defined as “the same or similar grammatical form or structure to relate ideas of equal importance,” it is clear that the sentence is not in parallel form. In order to put the sentence in parallel form, each of the clauses must utilize the same grammatical elements. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com5

6. Parallel Form So the sentence She enjoys reading, to play piano, and hard work. becomes She enjoys reading, playing piano, and working hard. (participles) or She enjoys to read, to play piano, and to work hard. (infinitives) www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com6

7. Parallel Form Use parallelism when listing items in a series. Mark tried threats, pleading, and shouting but his brain would not cooperate. Mark tried threats, pleas, and shouts, but his brain would not cooperate. Mark tried threatening, pleading, and shouting, but his brain would not cooperate. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com7

8. Parallel Form Use Parallel form with longer phrases and clauses. He bought her flowers, had sent some candy, and played music, but she still tore his heart out. He bought her flowers, sent her candy, and played her music, but she still tore his heart out. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com8

9. Parallel Form Whenever possible, parallel form should be used with all types of compound sentences which include: compound or coordinate sentences conjunctive adverbs correlative conjunctions than or as clauses www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com9

10. Parallel Form Remember that a compound sentence is balanced, so whenever possible use the same grammatical pattern on both sides of the coordinating conjunction. Noun Verb Infinitive Verb Noun ccj Noun Verb Infinitive Verb Noun Mark loves to write poetry, and he loves to drink cola. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com10

11. Parallel Form Conjunctive Adverbs : Noun Verb art Adjective Noun Conjunctive Noun Verb art Adverb Mark needed a quick boost ;hence, he found a Adjective Noun faster way. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com11

12. Parallel Form Correlative conjunctions: Correlative Noun Verb Subject Correlative Noun Verb art Subject Conjunction Complement Either Mark is crazy or Mark is a genius. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com12

13. Parallel Form With “than” or “As”: Noun Verb art Adjective Adjective Noun Noun Verb art Mark is a better crossing guard than he is a Adjective Adjective Noun computer repair technician. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com13

14. Parallel Form Whenever possible lists and outlines should be put in parallel form. Parallelism makes lists easier to understand and may help to avoid disputes caused by poor reading comprehension. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com14

15. Parallel Form Not Parallel some sugar a box of cereal green beans six cans eggs jug of milk Parallel two bags of sugar one box of cereal six cans of green beans one dozen eggs one gallon of milk www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com15

16. Parallel Form Often similar grammatical form isn’t enough to signal parallelism, repeating of key words can also help to make sentences more emphatic. They fought to protect farms, crops, and wives. Farms, crops, and wives are all plural nouns, but the sentence can be more emphatic. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com16

17. Parallel Form They fought to protect their farms, their crops, and their wives. By repeating the key word “their” the writer is reminding the reader that “they” are fighting for their own possessions. The sentence is also more emphatic because the parallelism has been increased from simply plural nouns to possessive pronoun + plural noun. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com17

18. Parallel Form Whenever possible use parallel sentences in paragraphs and essays. This is best accomplished by the writer making a conscious decision to gravitate toward one particular type of sentence construction such as a present participle or an infinitive phrase. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com18

19. Parallel Form Jason has an amazing ability to imitate others. When Jason began to walk, he would often stumble and hit his head on the coffee table. To get Jason to stop crying, my wife began to hit the coffee table and say, “Bad Table.” This worked well until one day grandma mentioned that Missy was a “Bad Dog.” When Jason heard this, he jumped to his feet, ran to Missy, and began to hit Missy with all his might and he started to shout “Bad Dog!” www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com19

20. Parallel Form Utilizing parallelism in writing helps to bring unity and coherence to writing. Remember to use parallelism with compound sentences, lists, outlines, and longer pieces of writing. To increase parallelism in your writing is a great way to increase your grade in the course. www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com20

21. Parallel Form The End www.booksbyalfredtaylor.com21