It is not just grammatical accuracy that makes a piece of writing good. There are many other characteristics such as organization, coherence, diction, grammar and style that constitute a good piece of writing. Parallelism within sentences and within a paragraph is an important stylistic aspect that adds beauty to a piece of writing.
Parallelism can be defined as “using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance”. It can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level. Why is it important? Parallel structure or construction makes a sentence rhythmic and improves readability.
I came across this sentence written by a person who speaks English with impeccable pronunciation, clear accent and proper diction.
The Annual General Meeting of our Association will be held at our office for the election of new office-bearers for 2016-18 and also to adopt the audited Financial Statement for 2015-16.
The sentence is grammatically correct but does not follow the rule of parallelism as the phrases “for the election of new office bearers” and “to adopt the audited Financial Statement” are not parallel. The sentence can be modified as below:
The Annual General Meeting of our Association will be held at our office to elect new office-bearers for 2016-18 and also to adopt the audited Financial Statement for 2015-16.
In the modified sentence the phrases “to elect new office-bearers” and “to consider and adopt the financial statement” are parallel.
Look at this sentence.
A professional teacher is a passionate learner, reflective teacher, active researcher, creative contributor and good critic – all in one.
It is a very balanced sentence. In each of the five phrases passionate learner, reflective teacher, active researcher, creative contributor and good critic, an adjective precedes a noun. The sentence is rhythmic.
Here is one more example of a parallel structure:
The door bell rang. Janet closed the book and put it down. She got up from the sofa, walked towards the door, opened it, saw the young man, smiled at him and hugged him.
The sentence above is a well balanced one as each verb is followed by a noun or noun phrase.
Consider this sentence:
Not parallel: He is a rich man but not generous.
Here, the phrases “a rich man” and “not generous” are not parallel. The sentence can be modified as below:
He is a rich man but not a generous person.
He is rich but not generous.