Definition of parallelism

The balance between two or more similar words, phrases or clauses is called parallelism in grammar. Parallelism is
also called parallel structure orparallel construction. Parallel construction prevents awkwardness, promotes clarity
and improves writing style and readability.

Examples:

 Nancy likes playing the piano, the trumpet and play the guitar.
Nancy likes the piano, the trumpet and the guitar.
Nancy likes playing the piano, the trumpet and the guitar.
 She played basketball, had a shower and gone to school.
She played basketball, had a shower and went to school.
 You can apply to the job by filling this form or apply by telephone.
You can apply to the job by filling this form or you can apply by telephone.

Rules of parallelism

1. Parallelism is used to balance nouns with nouns, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases,
participles with participles, infinitives with infinitives, clauses with clauses.
2. Parallelism is used with elements joined by coordinating conjunctions.
My mother likes cooking and to read.
My mother likes cooking and reading
3. Parallelism is used with elements in lists or in a series.
This task can be done individually, in pairs, or can be done in groups of four.
This task can be done individually, in pairs, or in groups of four.
4. Parallelism is used with elements being compared.
She is mad about watching TV more than to read a book .
She is mad about watching TV more than reading a book.
5. Parallelism is used with elements joined by a linking verb or a form of be
To learn is understanding the world.
To learn is to understand the world.
6. Parallelism is used with elements joined by linking words.
The teacher not only wants his students to keep quiet but also to do the task .
The teacher wants his students not only to keep quiet but also to do the task .
Verbs have two voices : active voice and passive
voice . " Voice " Should not be confused with tense .
Tense has to do with the time of the action ; voice
pertains to the way a verb functions relative to the
subject of the sentence .
With active voice , the action of the verb is linear
and straightforward . The movement of the sentence
is the subject - > verb - > rest of conception . " The
report [ subject ] summarizes [ verb ] our findings [
object and rest of the idea ] " is such a sentence .
With passive voice , the verb acts upon the subject .
What would be the subject in a sentence using an
active verb becomes the object . " Our findings are
summarized by the report " is such a sentence .
Another way to put this is : When the verb is active ,
the subject performs the action : When the verb is
passive , the subject is the recipient of the action .
In the examples given above , both verbs are present
tense ; difference Between them is the voice . This
has a subtle effect upon the impact of the sentence .
The active voice ( " The report summarizes our
findings " ) is more direct and forceful . The passive
voice ( " Our findings are summarized by the report "
) is less direct and Requires more words . One reason
for this , of course , is that the passive voice uses a
Helping verb : are summarized .
An elementary rule of style is : Prefer the active
voice . That is , use the active voice unless you have
strong reason to use the passive voice . ( Notes
Regarding When the passive voice be used with
appear after the active / passive examples below . )
Here are some examples of active ( A ) versus
passive ( P ) in the six main tenses :
. . . in present tense
A The article discusses the effects of unemployment
. desirable [ derived from Theodore Bernstein : The
P The effects of unemployment are discussed in the
article .
. . . in present perfect tense
A The class has decided that Everyone Should get an
" A. "
P It has been decided by the class that everyone
Should get an " A. "
. . . in past tense
A The company made a huge profit .
P A huge profit was made by the company .
. . . in past perfect tense
A By Friday , we had reached an agreement .
P By Friday , an agreement had been reached [ by us
].
. . . in future tense
A We will mail our proposal next week .
Our proposal P will be mailed next week .
. . . in future perfect tense
A We will have the job finished by next month .
P The job will have been finished [ by us ] by next
month .
In the progressive ( aka continuous ) tenses , the
passive voice is especially burdensome Because the
progressive tenses already use auxiliary verbs are
priority to the passive voice adds another auxiliary .
ThuS , the active present progressive " I am doing my
homework " is , in its passive form , " My homework
is being done by me . " Ouch !
Partly Because electronic grammar checkers
diligently point out passive verbs ( it is one thing
They can be programmed to do Easily ) , some
people have begun to think that passive vouce is flat
- out incorrect . While active voice is preferable
When possible , the passive voice is Often Necessary
, sometimes unavoidable , and occasionally desirable
.
Here are are priority Situations in passive voice is
Careful Writer . ( New York : Atheneum ) 1979 ] :
> When the agent performing the action is
considered unimportant or too obvious to mention .
" McGregor was Accused of murder " : Who did the
accusing is unimportant . " The mail has already
been delivered " : Obviously , the mailman delivered
it .
> When the performer of the action is indefinite or
unknown : " Silk hats are not worn these days . " "
These legends were first recorded in the sixth
century . "

> When we want to emphasize the doer or the thing

done by PLACING it at the end of the sentence : "
The new system was marketed by Microsoft " (
emphasizes doer ) . " We can not drive our car
Because is being repaired " ( emphasizes thing done
).

> When we want to tone down a statement , to

make it less direct . " We believe that positive
Certain steps need to be taken .... " " It has been
suggested that .... "