What is Parallelism in Writing?
There are so many things we need to be good at while writing:
- Impressive Vocabulary and Punctuation
- Impeccable Grammar
- Concise and clear, yet interesting writing style.
The list goes on. However, even the most experienced writers often commit some mistakes that do not fall under the realms of spelling or grammar errors. Faulty parallelism in literature/writing is one such kind of error.
What is Parallelism in English literature?
In English literature, Parallelism is the repetition of the same grammatical structure in two or more parts (words, phrases or clauses) of a sentence.
By parallel we mean that all the elements are pointing in the same direction (in language terms), e.g. all of them are adjectives, or to-infinitives etc.
For example:
- I came, I saw, I conquered.
- You win some, you lose some.
Consider the following sentence:
Solving this question by integration method is complex, lengthy, and certain to consume a lot of time.
In the above sentence, we have used three words/phrases in parallel:
- complex
- lengthy
- certain to consume a lot of time
All the above three sentence elements are adjective or adjective phrase, i.e. the same part of speech. So, these three are parallel and this makes the sentence balanced.
Parallelism is also known by the names of parallel structure or parallel construction.
Using parallelism in your writing makes it look more impressive, and at the same time easier to read. However, it also makes you error prone. As it is very easy to make errors while using this effect of parallelism.
How to test Parallelism?
To check whether the various parts/elements of a sentence are in parallel, we can rewrite the sentence separately for each of them. All of them should make sense even separately. For example:
Solving this question by integration method is complex. (correct)
Solving this question by integration method is lengthy. (correct)
Solving this question by integration method is certain to consume a lot of time. (correct)
All the above sentences are grammatically correct and meaningful too.
What is Faulty Parallelism in Writing?
When two or more parts of a sentence are similar in meaning, but not similar in the grammatical structures they use, then such a sentence construction is called Faulty Parallelism.
That is, Faulty Parallelism is the improper implementation of parallelism in our writing.
You may easily find out a faulty parallelism error, as such a sentence will just sound odd when you read or hear it. However, let’s list down some of the most common cases of Faulty Parallelism.
Common cases of Faulty Parallelism
We will consider some examples showcasing faulty parallelism in use of words, as well as in use of phrases and clauses.
Faulty Parallelism Case 1: Parallel Words and Phrases
We use parallel construction in a sentence to join words of equal importance in a series. These words must have the same part of speech, i.e. all nouns, all adjectives etc. We join them using commas, semi-colons, and before the last item in the series we use ‘and’, or ‘or’.
We need to maintain parallel construction in case of phrases and clauses too.
For example, consider the following sentence.
Faulty Parallelism: The inspector swiftly and with courage arrested the vicious bandit. (incorrect)
The above sentence is incorrect because its parts/elements are not parallel.
- swiftly – adverb
- with courage – prepositional phrase, where courage is a noun
So, we can rewrite the above sentence as:
The inspector swiftly and courageously arrested the vicious bandit. (correct; swiftly, courageously - adverbs)
The inspector with swiftness and courage arrested the vicious bandit. (correct; swiftness, courage - nouns)
Faulty Parallelism Case 2: Parallel Clauses
Faulty Parallelism: The teacher complained that the student often misbehaved in classroom, that he disturbed other kids, and rarely concentrated on studies. (incorrect)
The above sentence is incorrect because its parts/elements are not parallel.
- that the student often misbehaved in classroom – that-clause
- that he disturbed other kids – that-clause
- rarely concentrated on studies – not a that-clause
So, we can rewrite the above sentence as:
The teacher complained that the student often misbehaved in classroom, that he disturbed other kids, and that he rarely concentrated on studies. (correct)
The teacher complained that the student often misbehaved in classroom, disturbed other kids, and rarely concentrated on studies. (correct)
Let’s see some more cases of faulty parallelism.
Faulty Parallelism Case 3: Parallel Verb Forms
When we have a series of verbs (or verb phrases), then make sure that they are of the same form. For example, do not mix an infinitive with a gerund.
Consider the following sentence.
Faulty Parallelism: Bright students usually enjoy studying, playing and to watch movies. (incorrect)
The above sentence is incorrect because its parts/elements are not parallel.
- studying, playing – these are gerunds (i.e. verbs working as nouns)
- to watch – it is to-infinitive
So, we can rewrite the above sentence as:
Bright students usually enjoy studying, playing and watching movies. (correct)
Bright students usually enjoy to study, play and watch movies. (correct)
We need not repeat ‘to’ with each to-infinitive. Just make sure that the verb form is same in all the parts.
So, “to study, play and watch” is fine. But these are not – “to study, played and watch”, “to study, plays and watch”.
Faulty Parallelism Case 4: Parallel Noun Forms
Faulty Parallelism: For this job we need water colours and to make a lemon solution. (incorrect)
The above sentence is incorrect because its parts/elements are not parallel.
- water colours – noun
- to make a lemon solution – it is a to-infinitive phrase
So, we can rewrite the above sentence as:
For this job we need water colours and lemon solution. (correct)
For this job we need to get water colours and to make a lemon solution. (correct)
Faulty Parallelism Case 5: Noun Number
Faulty Parallelism: Government is investing a lot in public transport, such as purchasing new buses and train. (incorrect)
The above sentence is incorrect because its parts/elements are not parallel.
- buses – plural noun
- train – singular noun
So, we can rewrite the above sentence as:
Government is investing a lot in public transport, such as purchasing new buses and trains. (correct)
Faulty Parallelism Case 6: Coordinating Conjunctions
When we connect two ideas using coordinating conjunctions like: and, or, nor, but, and yet, then those ideas must be in parallel too.
Faulty Parallelism: He decided to conduct a survey by using an online form and phone interviews. (incorrect)
The above sentence is incorrect because its parts/elements are not parallel.
- using an online form
- phone interviews
So, we can rewrite the above sentence as:
He decided to conduct a survey by using an online form and conducting phone interviews. (correct)
He decided to conduct a survey through online forms and phone interviews. (correct)
Extra Books and Tools
If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.