Great writers ask themselves whether they have expressed their thoughts clearly and effectively in their writing and whether readers will be able to understand the writing as intended by the writers. They employ many writing techniques to make their writing clear, effective and memorable. One of the techniques is parallelism which is defined as “using elements that are grammatically similar or identical in structure, sound, meaning or meter.” It is a technique used not only to maintain balance but also to improve readability. Parallel clauses are combined with the use of coordinators (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) that have the acronym FANBOYS. Coordinators are used to express a relationship between two related sentences: reason (for), addition (and), negation (nor), contrast (but), option (or), contrary outcome (yet) and result (so).
Look at these two sentences:
(i) He likes to visit the sweet stall, (to) taste the sweets and (to) place an order.
(ii) He likes to visit the sweet stall, (to) taste the sweets and placing an order.
Parallelism is kept in the first sentence whereas it is broken in the second one. Parallel construction is possible both within and between sentences. Here are examples of parallel elements:
(i) –ing words: walking is parallel to jumping but not parallel to to jump
(ii) infinitive: to walk is parallel to jump but not parallel to jumping
(iii) prepositional phrases: on the table is parallel to near the house but not parallel to because she is rich
(iv) subordinate clauses: because she is rich is parallel to after I had left
Here are examples of parallel elements within a sentence:
- The baby enjoys walking and jumping
- She loves to walk but not to jump
- My book is on the table not under the table
- She is neither rich nor beautiful
- He is neither an actor nor a director
Here are more sentences with parallel structure:
- Please read it carefully, summarise it accurately and submit it quickly.
- He has demonstrated his clarity of thought and clarity of expression in his writings.
- He is a good actor, great writer and wonderful person.