Parallelism In Writing

In writing, parallelism refers to balance and equality. In order for the reader to understand what the writer means, the words must make sense in time and space. If you start talking about one thing one way, you can’t – mid-sentence – switch to talking about something else a different way.

I will stop working on my speech and went to the movies.

This sentence isn’t parallel because the verb tenses don’t make chronological sense.

I stopped working on my speech and went to the movies.

I will stop working on my speech and go to the movies.

I stopped working on my speech, and I like to watch movies.

The problem with this sentence involves both the verb tenses and the subject matter. The only way to deal with this is to write it as two sentences.

I stopped working on my speech and went to a movie. I like to watch movies.

Sharon needs to work on both grammar and she needs to learn to spell.

The problem in this sentence is because everything hinges on both. If we separated the clauses into sentences, we’d see the problem:

Sharon needs to work on grammar.

Sharon needs to work on she needs to learn to spell.

Obviously, the second sentence doesn’t work. The first sentence is alright, though, so we can use that as our template for the second clause.

Sharon needs to work on both grammar and spelling.

Mary likes to shop and jogging.

Mary like shopping and jogging.

Mary likes to shop and to go jogging.

Faulty parallelism usually involves a problem with verb form, but you should look for nouns, adverbs, and adjectives, too.

Public transit such as buses or a train can help reduce air pollution.

Public transit such as buses or trains can help reduce air pollution.

The chef swiftly and with efficiency rolled out the pizza dough and covered it with toppings.

The chef swiftly and efficiently rolled out the pizza dough and covered it with toppings.