Parallel wording

Parallel Wording
Coordinate like word forms
Nonparallel and Parallel Coordinates
NONPARALLEL—COORDINATES NOT SAME KIND

A coordinator (and, but, or, nor) joins like elements, such as noun phrases, verb
phrases, adverb phrases, adjective phrases, prepositional phrases, gerunds, infinitives and
clauses. If the coordinates of and, but or or are not grammatically alike, then the clause is not
parallel.
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS MIXED

*My English is improving slow but surely. (Adj – Adv)
*We are leaving quickly and quiet. (Adv + Adj)
*We'll can speak specific or generally, whichever you prefer. (Adj +/- Adv)
*He works neither efficiently nor effective. (Adv +/- Adj)
ADVERBS AND AJECTIVES MIXED

*The football player ran skillfully yet defensive. (Adv – Adj)
* He welcomes us friendly¹ and joyfully. (Adj + Adv)
VERB FORMS MIXED

*She walks and texting at the same time. (V + Ger)
*You I need to write and communicating with others. (Inf + Ger)
*I really like relaxing and enjoy my quiet time. (Ger + Base form)
*I spend time listen and laughing at his talk show. (Base form + Ger)
PHRASES MIXED WITH OTHER WORDS AND STRUCTURES

*The gymnast went around the bar and swinging over the top. (VP–Ger)
*In the morning and noon the mail comes. (PP–N)
*How to do that and the time I am doing that is a problem. (IntP +/- NP)
*I don't care who it is or the product he is selling, just hang up! (IntP +/- NP)

CLAUSES MIXED WITH OTHER WORDS AND STRUCTURES

*The dog was barking and we running. (Cls + ?)
*We were walking but not tiring. (Cls - ?)
*We put new batteries in the toy yet broken. (Cls - ?)


PARALLEL—SAME KIND COORDINATES

When a coordinator (and, but, or) joins like or same kind coordinates (adjectives, nouns,
adverbs, phrases or clauses), the clause is said to have "parallel construction". Rewording the
coordinates so that the forms are grammatically alike improves the readability of the clause.
ADVERBS

My English is improving slowly but surely. (Adv – Adv)
We are leaving quickly and quietly. (Adv + Adv)
We'll can speak specifically or generally, whichever you prefer. (Adv +/- Adv)
He works neither efficiently nor effectively. (Adv +/- Adv)
ADVERBIALS

The player ran skillfully and defensively. (Adv + Adv)
The player ran in a skillful and defensive manner. (PP: Adj+ Adj)
He welcomes us in a friendly¹ and joyful manner. (PP—Adj + Adj)
VERB FORMS

She walks and texts at the same time. (V + V)
You need to write and (to) communicate with others. (Inf + Inf)
(The subordinator is to and the base form is the infinitival form.)

I really like relaxing and enjoying on the weekend. (Ger + Ger)

I spend time listening to³ and laughing at his talk show. (Ger + Ger)
PHRASES

The gymnast swung around the bar and over the top. (PP + PP)
In the morning and at noon the mail comes. (PP + PP)
How to do that² and when to do that is a problem. (IntP + IntP)
I don't care who it is or what he's selling, just hang up! (IntP +/- IntP)
CLAUSES

The dog was barking, and we were running. (Cls + Cls)
We were walking, but we were not feeling tired. (Cls – Cls)
We put new batteries in the toy, yet it wasn't working. (Cls – Cls)