#Parallel structure example series

to explain the ideas, arguments, and interpretations of writers, scholars, historians, scientists etc.to describe action in works of literature or other art forms such as film, opera, television shows etc.The shifts in tense may be necessary to explain changes or continuities over time or for other reasons. Sometimes more than one verb tense is used in a sentence, paragraph or essay when the meaning calls for such a shift. Shifting in TimeĪ shift in verb tense indicates a shift in time. īoth sentences are less awkward when the shifts are eliminated. When a person fails to dress warmly, he or she can expect to get a cold. When a person fails to dress warmly, that person can expect to get a cold. In this sentence, the writer starts off referring to ‘a person’ but then shifts to ‘you’. When a person fails to dress warmly, you can expect to get a cold. The industrial designer gave a brief description of her new design, and then she demonstrated the product. The verb tense, or time, of the sentence has shifted in a confusing way. In this sentence, the reader expects ‘demonstrates’ to be ‘demonstrated’ because the first verb of that sentence, ‘gave’, is in the past tense. The industrial designer gave a brief description of her new design, and then she demonstrates the product.

Inconsistencies in time and person within a sentence cause awkward and unclear writing. William HazlittĪsk not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. The love of liberty is the love of others the love of power is the love of ourselves. It is also frequently used in speeches for the same reason.Įarly to bed and early to rise make a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Parallel construction is frequently used in proverbs and epigrams to emphasize an idea or to fix it in the reader's mind. We judge our friends not only by their words but also by their actions. We judge our friends not only by their words but also by what they do. Your report must cover the following topics:Įlements that are being added to or are being compared or contrasted by the use of pairs of conjunctions, like both.and, either.or or not only.but, can be expressed more clearly and emphatically by the use of parallel construction.

In labs, resumes and other documents, make sure that items following a colon are in parallel construction. Parallel construction is also handy when using colons followed by numbered, itemized or bulleted lists. He told us to that we must pack up all our belongings and to leave the country within twenty-four hours.

He told us to pack up all our belongings and to leave the country within twenty-four hours. His writing was neat and I could read it easily. Look at the following examples of parallel construction to get an idea of what this means the elements in grammatically equal form are in bold.

#Parallel structure example series

When writing sentences with lists or series, use parallel construction, which means putting the elements of the list or series in a grammatically equal form. Parallel construction gives balance and continuity to writing, making sentences clearer and easier to understand.