Two Sections of Grammar: (35, 14) Parallelism SAT Questions on Parallelism:

Sentence Correction:
1. The Start- up company found it much easier to underbid on a job than completing the job on time, which caused financial problems when their clients withheld payment. No Error Sentence Improvement: 1. NP: The meaning of his words was even more elusive in his own country than either Europe or Latin America. P: The meaning of his words was even more elusive in his own country than either in Europe or in Latin America. 2. Animal behaviourists are researching how bats respond to abnormalities in their environments, detect light and sound, and communicate with each other. (Correct) 3. NP: Oscar Wilde was almost as brilliant a novelist as he was at writing plays. P: Oscar Wilde was almost as brilliant a novelist as he was a playwright. 4. A spokesman for the car company boasted that the new model was light weight, effective, and virtually indistinguishable from the expensive model commonly used in movies. (Correct) 5. NP: For many an inspirational writer, being free to create is more important than having a lot of money. P: For many an inspirational writer, having the freedom to create is more important than having a lot of money. 6. NP: Women are not rejecting the idea of raising children, but many taking jobs as well. P: Women are not rejecting the idea of raising children, but many are taking jobs as well. 7. NP: Changing over from a military to a peace time economy means producing tractors rather than tanks, radios rather than rifles, and to produce running shoes rather than combat boots. 8. P: Changing over from a military to a peace time economy means producing tractors rather than tanks, radios rather than rifles, and running shoes rather than combat boots.

For a sentence to be grammatically correct, its individual parts must be parallel. Parallelism dictates that comparable structure parts must be similar. OR Faulty parallelism occurs when parts of a sentence that serve similar functions are not written with similar structures. OR Parallel structures include word or phrase patterns that are similar. When ideas in a sentence or paragraph are similar, you can reinforce these similarities in meaning through creating parallel structures. Effective

parallelism creates symmetry in sentences and adds force to your writing; it emphasizes the likeness between two or more ideas. Not parallel: The Writing Center needs tutors who are ambitious, who are self-motivated, and who are dedicated. Parallel: The Writing Center needs tutors who are ambitious, motivate themselves, and exhibit dedication. In the first example, the words "who are" are repeated three times, forcing the words "ambitious," "selfmotivated," and "dedicated" to be alike. In the second example, "who are" makes sense with "ambitious," but "are" must be dropped for a reader to make sense of the following phrases in the sentence. When sentences are truly parallel, and the verbs are used exactly the same in each phrase, they do not need to be repeated.

Repeating the verbs becomes a question of style and emphasis. Don't go too far with parallelism! Sentence 1 above could also be stated, without too much repetition:

The Writing Center needs tutors who are ambitious, self-motivated, and dedicated. Parallelism to Clarify Meaning: Janet researches cell membranes and walls. Is Janet a biologist, or a biologist with an interest in interior design? This revision makes the meaning clear: Parallelism to Clarify Meaning: Janet researches cell membranes and walls. Is Janet a biologist, or a biologist with an interest in interior design? This revision makes the meaning clear: Some Ways to Use Parallel Structures With: Items in a series: As an artist, he drew, painted, and sculpted. I came; I saw; I conquered. Eat, drink, and be merry. Paired items: The musicians began not only to sing, but also to dance. Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. (John F. Kennedy) Balanced Sentences: White chickens lay white eggs, and brown chickens lay brown eggs; so if white cows give white milk, do brown cows give chocolate milk? Lists and Outlines: The research had three main goals: To discover the cause of the disease, to propose a medicinal treatment, to document the success of the treatment. In Resumes: Note: As you write or update your resume, make sure all your listings are "parallel":

"Responsibilities included . . . ." as the beginning of each description, or begin each description with verbs in the same tense: "Researched," "Conducted," "Supervised," etc. Not parallel: Mr. Thomas likes cooking, jogging, and to read. Parallel: Mr. Thomas likes cooking, jogging, and reading. Not parallel: The employees were upset by their low pay, poor working conditions, and that they did not have many outlets for their creativity. Parallel: The employees were upset by their low pay, poor working conditions, and limited creative outlets. Not parallel: Affy ran across the yard, jumped over the fence, and down the alley he sprinted. Parallel: Affy ran across the yard, jumped over the fence, and sprinted down the alley. Not Parallel: The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner. Parallel: The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and thoroughly. Not Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and his motivation was low. Not parallel: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed. Parallel: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method. Not parallel: The French, the Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese Parallel: The French, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese. Not parallel: In spring, summer, or in winter Parallel: In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter) Not parallel: It was both a long ceremony and very tedious. Parallel: The ceremony was both long and tedious. Not parallel: Either you must grant his request or incur his ill will. Parallel: You must either grant his request or incur his ill will. Not parallel: My objections are, first, the injustice of the measure; second, that it is unconstitutional. Parallel: My objections are, first, that the measure is unjust; second, that it is unconstitutional. Not parallel: My income is smaller than my wife. Parallel: My income is smaller than my wife's.

The following chart identifies the most commonly tested parallel structures.

Parts of Parallel Constructions speech/structur es Nouns Adjectives Trevor collects stamps, coins and cards. The wait staff was prompt, friendly, and competent.

Modified Nouns A positive attitude can lead to both practical success and spiritual fulfillment. Verbs Verb Infinitives Participial Phrases Adverbs Adverbial Phrases We worked all day, ate all evening, and slept all night. I decided to swim across the river rather than sail around the world. (The second to is optional. The rain continued to fall, providing water for the thirsty plants but flooding the streets as well. Ive noticed that you often howl angrily after you cower fearfully. Ive noticed that you often howl in anger after you cower in fear.

Anchors in Parallel construction: I. Often Pronouns such as which, that, those, who, etc. - signal parallel structure. If one item includes a pronoun, it is often appropriate to include the same pronoun in parallel items. For Example: Not Parallel: I prefer to hire employees WHO work hard to those THAT dont. Parallel: I prefer to hire employees WHO work hard to those WHO dont. Not Parallel: Ralph likes a variety of people, including THOSE WHO are popular and WHO are not. Parallel: Ralph likes a variety of people, including THOSE WHO are popular and THOSE WHO are not.

II. (i) When a series of clauses is listed, the verbs in each clause must have the same form. Not Parallel: During his trip to Europe, the president will discuss ways to stimulate trade, offer economic aid and trying to forge a new coalition with moderate forces in China. Parallel: During his trip to Europe, the president will discuss ways to stimulate trade, offer economic aid and try to forge a new coalition with moderate forces in China. (ii) When a series of clauses with different verbs is listed, make sure the verb in each clause is listed. Not Parallel: Your battle field debriefing should include enemy troop strength and why you believe the objective is necessary. Parallel: Your battle field debriefing should include enemy troop strength and explain why you believe the objective is necessary. III. When two adjectives modify the same noun they should have similar forms.

Not Parallel: The topology course was both rigorous and a challenge. Parallel: The topology course was both rigorous and challenging. Not Parallel: The interim Prime Minister is strong, compassionate and wants to defeat the insurgency with a minimum of civilian casualties. Parallel: The interim Prime Minister is strong, compassionate and determined to defeat the insurgency with a minimum of civilian casualties. Notice that the clause determined to defeat....... has more structure and information than the single word modifiers strong and compassionate. Often, this imbalance in complexity can make a sentence stilted and the lesser adjectives will need to be subordinated:

The interim Prime Minister, who is strong and compassionate, wants to defeat the insurgency with a minimum of civilian casualties. IV. Make sure the elements of Correlative Conjunctions are balanced. Following are some correlative conjunction. (both..........and........; either..........or...........; neither...........nor.........; not only............. but also...........; whether........ or............) Not Parallel: Agreeing to modest cuts in health benefits is a tacit admission by the union leadership both of its decreased influence and the increased influence of workers. Here, the prepositional phrase of its decreased influence and the adjective phrase increased influence of workers are not balanced. This can be corrected by placing the preposition of before the conjunction both: Parallel: Agreeing to modest cuts in health benefits is a tacit admission by the union leadership of both its decreased influence and the increased influence of workers. Not Parallel: In criticizing the team, the coach was not only referring to the poor shooting but also to the numerous turnovers. Here, the phrase referring to the poor shooting and the phrase to the numerous turnovers are not balanced. This can be corrected by moving the word referring before the word not: Parallel: In criticizing the team, the coach was referring not only to the poor shooting but also to the numerous turnovers. Not Parallel: Nineteenth-century nihilists were concerned with neither the origins of philosophical thought nor how societal laws developed. Parallel: Nineteenth-century nihilists were concerned with neither the origins of philosophical thought nor the development of societal laws. V. When the first half of a sentence has a certain structure, the second half should preserve the structure. Not Parallel: To acknowledge that one is an alcoholic is taking the first step and hardest step to recovery. Parallel: To acknowledge that one is an alcoholic to take the first step and hardest step to recovery. VI. Usually we think of verbs as action words(walk, dance and jump), but a second class of verbs is termed verbs of being (Instead of expressing what a subject does, these verbs express what a subject is, or the condition a subject is in). The most common verb of being is verb to be (is, am, are, was, were, been,

being) but there are other verbs of being as well (appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn). WHEN YOU SEE A FORM OF THE VERB TO BE (OR ANY OTHER VERB OF BEING), BE SURE THAT THE TWO SIDES OF THE VERB ARE PARALLEL. Not parallel: The flower bouquet WAS the husband's giving of love to his wife. Parallel: The flower bouquet WAS the husband's loving gift to his wife. Not parallel: The attitudes of that politician always SEEM TO BE attacking the poor. Parallel: Because of his intolerant attitude, that politician always SEEMS TO BE attacking the poor. VII. A parallel structure that begins with clauses must keep on with clauses. Changing to another pattern or changing the voice of the verb (from active to passive or vice versa) will break the parallelism. Not Parallel: The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game. Parallel: The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game. Parallel: The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not eat too much, and do some warm-up exercises before the game. Not Parallel: The salesman expected that he would present his product at the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that questions would be asked by prospective buyers. (Passive) Parallel: The salesman expected that he would present his product at the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that prospective buyers would ask him questions. MOST IMPORTANT; VIII. Superficial parallelism vs. Actual parallelism To preserve parallel structure, it is important to pay attention to which grammatical structures- verb phrases, prepositional phrases, adverbial phrases, etc. are logically parallel before assuming that they must be structurally parallel. OK: Ken travelled around the world, visiting historic sites, eating native foods, and learning about new culture. Do not become a victim of superficial parallelism by assuming that ALL Verbs in a sentence must be parallel. Only the structures that are logically parallel must be parallel. In each of the following 15 sentences, underline each individual sentence part. Then, rewrite each sentence ensuring structural and logical parallelism among the sentence parts. 1. The connection between regular exercise and performing well in school continues to elude us. 2. Although we were sitting in the bleachers, the baseball game was as exciting to us as the people sitting behind home plate. 3. Many teachers have chosen to seek employment in the suburbs rather than facing low salaries in the city.

4. If he is not given ample recovery time after the operation, he is liable to be disoriented and may not perform routine tasks well. 5. Many agree that how you dress for a job interview and even the way you position yourself in your seat leave a lasting impression on your interviewer. 6. A good nights sleep not only gives your body a chance to rest, but energizing you for the following day. 7. The joint business venture will increase employee satisfaction and starts improving the relations between upper management and staff. 8. The works displayed in the photography exhibits were contributed by numerous artists, both those who already had mass appeal and who never had much exposure. 9. We were dismayed to learn that most of our neighbors were unfriendly, disagreeable, and were uninteresting to make new friends. 10. The students didnt do well on the test more because they didnt study not understanding the material. 11. The snow covered the train tracks by more than a foot, prompted the transit authority to shut down service temporarily, and causing discontent among commuters who were left stranded for hours. 12. The experience we have when children still influence our behavior in adulthood. 13.The band chosen for the annual spring concert appealed to the student body and administration as well. (BOTH -------- AND) 14.The new toy was the young mothers trying to appease her sobbing children. (ATTEMPT) 15. We decided to walk to the cinema rather than taking the bus.

FAULTY COORDINATION AND SUBORDINATION FAULTY COORDINATION AND SUBORDINATION Sentence Improvement: 1. Although her first business, a health food store, went bankrupt, but she eventually launched a successful mail-order business. 2. Because the carpenter would not do the work exactly as Edda wanted it done, so she refused to pay him. 3. Yeats eventually created a unique voice in his poetry, but he was able to shake off the restricting influence of the British literary traditions. 4. Ben Franklin was a respected and talented statesman and he was most famous for his discovery of electricity. 5. Since the small electronics industry is one of the worlds fastest growing sectors, because demand for the computer chip continues to be high. 6. Last of the worlds leaders to do so, the Prime Minister admits that terrorist threats credible enough to warrant the imposition of stringent security measures.

Corrected: Last of the worlds leaders to do so, the Prime Minister admits that terrorist threats are credible enough to warrant the imposition of stringent security measures. 7. Women are not rejecting the idea of raising children, but many taking jobs as well. Corrected: Women are not rejecting the idea of raising children, but many are taking jobs as well. 8. One important cause of the medication shortage is when healthy people, attempting to build up immunity, take medications that are intended to treat illness. Corrected: One important cause of the medication shortage is when healthy people, attempting to build up immunity, take medications that are intended to treat illness. 9. Television shows such as M*A*S*H and All in the Family took months even years took months or even years to build a large audience, most new series today never get that chance. Corrected: Although television shows such as M*A*S*H and All in the Family took months even years took months or even years to build a large audience, most new series today never get that chance. 10.Mr. Freeman, the head of accounting, has a reputation for awarding the Employee of the Month honors to member of his own department, and this month he presented the award to Jean Everly in Customer Service. Corrected: Mr. Freeman, the head of accounting, has a reputation for awarding the Employee of the Month honors to member of his own department but this month he presented the award to Jean Everly in Customer Service. Corrected: Although Mr. Freeman, the head of accounting, has a reputation for awarding the Employee of the Month honors to member of his own department, this month he presented the award to Jean Everly in Customer Service.

11.The main points Senator Gutierrez made during his speech to the conventioneers was that he had supported measures to improve health care for the working class and would introduce a bill to fund a new bus route. Corrected: The main points Senator Gutierrez made during his speech to the conventioneers were that he had supported measures to improve health care for the working class and that he would introduce a bill to fund a new bus route.

Sentence Improvement: 11.Although her first business, a health food store, went bankrupt, but she eventually launched a successful mail-order business. 12.Because the carpenter would not do the work exactly as Edda wanted it done, so she refused to pay him.

13.Yeats eventually created a unique voice in his poetry, but he was able to shake off the restricting influence of the British literary tradition. I. II. Example: Ben Franklin was a respected and talented statesman and he was most famous for his discovery of electricity. To identify and correct the faulty coordination, determine what the relationship between the sentences two clauses really is. Does the conjunction and best express the relationship between the two facts the writer states about Ben Franklin? And normally expresses the consistency between two equally emphasized facts. However, the fact that Franklin is best known for his discovery of electricity is presented in contrast to the fact that he was a talented statesman. Thus the use of and is an error in contrast. A better way to connect these two contrasting ideas would be to use conjunction but, which indicates some contrast between the clauses. Coordination between two clauses is faulty if it doesnt express the logical relationship between the clauses. Often this error involves a misused conjunction.

III.

Faulty subordination is most often found on the writing section in a group of words that contains two or more subordinate, or dependent clauses but not independent clause.

There are several connective words that, when introducing a sentence or clause, always indicate that the phrase that follows is dependent, or subordinate. There are several connective words that, when introducing a sentence or clause, always indicate that the phrase that follows is dependent, or subordinate. They are as follows:

I. II. III. IV. V.

IV.

Time(when, after, before, as soon as, wherever, while) Place(where, wherever) Cause (Because, since, in order that, so that) Contrast/concession(although, as if, though, while) Condition(if, unless, provided, since as long as)

Whenever a dependent clause begins a sentence, an independent clause must follow somewhere in the sentence. Example: Since the small electronics industry is one of the worlds fastest growing sectors, because demand for the computer chip continues to be high.

Since indicates that the first clause in this group of words is subordinate, and needs to be preceded or followed by an independent clause. But because in the second clause indicates

that the second clause is also subordinate. The sentence is faulty because there is no independent clause to make the group of words grammatically complete. The second connective word, because should be eliminated in order to make the group of words a complete and logical sentence. With this revision, the since-clause expresses a cause, and the independent clause expresses an effect or result:

OK: Since the small electronics industry is one of the worlds fastest growing sectors, demand for the computer chip continues to be high.