Paralellism

Verb Forms

Olympic athletes usually like practicing, competing, and to eat ice cream sandwiches.

In this sentence, practicing and competing are gerunds (verbs functioning as nouns) and “to eat” is an infinitive. It sounds pretty awkward—just like being an athlete with a sweet tooth.

Instead:

Olympic athletes usually like practicing, competing, and eating ice cream sandwiches.

or

Olympic athletes usually like to practice, compete, and eat ice cream sandwiches.

Note that you don’t need to repeat the “to” in each instance of the infinitive form of the verb. As long as the form of the verb is the same in all three cases, you’re good to go.

Nouns vs. Verbs

For dinner we like lamb chops and to fry brussel sprouts.

Lamb chops is a noun. Brussel sprouts is a noun too, but to fry is a verb. Tsk tsk.

For dinner we like lamb chops and brussel sprouts.

or

For dinner we like to grill lamb chops and fry brussel sprouts.

Delicious.

Noun Number

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

Multiple buses, one train? That’s not going to solve any environmental issues. Here’s a better solution:

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

More Mismatched Parts of Speech

The detective deftly and with pizzazz outlined how the crime had been committed.

What’s the adverb of “pizzazz”? Great question. Both deftly (adverb) and with pizzazz (a prepositional phrase) need to be the same part of speech for this sentence to be properly parallel. And if “pizzazzilly” isn’t a word, that means two nouns are needed.

With deftness and pizzazz, the detective outlined how the crime had been committed.

Subject Matter

He decided to cover the gown in sequins, and had a steak for dinner.

Huh? Unless being a fabulous designer is a recipe for steak, these two actions don’t seem to have much in common. Parallelism in subject matter means that everything discussed in a sentence should have at least some amount of clarity and relatedness.

He decided to cover the gown in sequins, and to celebrate, he had a steak for dinner.

or

He was hungry after he covered the gown in sequins, so he had a steak for dinner.

The possible connections are endless, but for proper parallelism, that connection must be clear to the reader.

1. When Delores realized that her father had made lima beans and rice for dinner, she __________, claimed to feel nauseous, and excused herself from the table. The bag of stale popcorn in her room would tide her over until breakfast.

Aclutched her stomachBdid clutch her stomachCwas clutching her stomach

2. Not only did Hank despise the way June chewed with her mouth open, _________ finding her wet towels all over the bathroom floor.

Abut also dislikingBbut he also dislikedCbut also disliked

3. To protect her delicate hands, Fran will not rake the yard, do the dishes, or __________.

Ascrub the bathtubBwon't scrub the bathtubCrefuses to scrub the bathtub

4. When Diane takes her beagle for a walk, Santana enjoys sniffing for edible garbage, __________, and lunging at squirrels.

Ashe howls at bicyclistsBhowls at bicyclistsChowling at bicyclists

5. After Amanda cashes her paycheck, the money goes to her savings account, cappuccino fund, and __________.

Atoward her credit card balanceBpaying her credit card billCcredit card balance

6. In preparation for her run, Alicia __________, applied sunscreen, and increased the volume on her iPod.

Atightened her shoelacesBdid tighten her shoelacesCwas tightening her shoelaces

7. We searched the car trunk, __________, and the top of the refrigerator, but we could not find the box of cornflakes that we remember buying.

Alooked on the pantry shelvesBon the pantry shelvesCthe pantry shelves

8. Bonkers, our ninety pound golden retriever, chews on furniture, __________, and snots up the car windows—inconveniences we didn't anticipate when we adopted him.

Ahe drags us around the neighborhood during walksBdrags us around the neighborhood during walksCwould drag us around the neighborhood during walks

9. Belinda saw very little of the horror movie, for she shut her eyes __________, when she heard the monster's footsteps in the dead leaves, and when characters started screaming.

Awhile listening to the violins playBduring the violin musicCwhen the violins began to play

10. In Mrs. Curall's office, Ruben feigned the flu. He hoped to be excused from class, get an extension on his paper, and __________.

Aspend the afternoon playing tennis with his friendsBto spend the afternoon playing tennis with his friendsCthen to spend the afternoon playing tennis with his friends