Examples of sentences with and without parallelism
Consider the pairs below. Which do you prefer to read?
- I like to swim, cycling and runs.
- I like swimming, cycling and running.
- The first effect causes people to become sleepy and tired. Individuals losing the ability to concentrate is caused by the second (effect).
- The first effect causes people to become sleepy and tired. The second (effect) causes people to lose the ability to concentrate.
Answers and explanation
In both cases, the 2nd is better, but why? The grammar is constant, that is, it is parallel, so the reader does not have to needlessly process different grammatical forms, or wonder why the changes. Your writing teachers may have told you to vary sentence types, usually to practice sentence structure, but breaking parallelism in a list would usually be done for intentional emphasis/contrast only.
Parallelism at the sentence level
Words forming lists, which take parallel forms
- and
- or
- not only … but also
- either … or
- neither … nor
Comparing and contrasting expressions also commonly take parallel forms.
When thinking about parallelism in a list you should first figure out what sections should be in parallel.
It is common to overlook the following case. Since the first was is outside the list, the second is unnecessary and should be deleted.
The new solar cell was not only more efficient but also was easier to fabricate.
Parallelism at the paragraph level
Aspects of parallelism should also exist across a paragraph describing similar actions or things, such as when describing an experimental process. For example, avoid:
- shifting tense
- shifting between active and passive
- otherwise changing the subject without reason
Summary
Parallel grammar is better for the clarity of lists, whether within one sentence or across sentences in a paragraph. It will help your readers to like reading your writing.
Parallelism improves academic writing, making it much clearer and more pleasant to read. If you are aware of parallelism and practice, you can improve by yourself. However, if you need more specific help with a particular text, please consider my technical editing service.