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The POWER of Parallel Structure , part 2


As i said before, PARALLEL STRUCTURE

is a POWERFUL TOOL to use for both Speaking and Writing.

If you can master the skill of using parallel structure, it will help increase your score in grammar and also make your writing and speaking more professional.

When making a list of things you should use the same grammatical form in each part of the list…. This is PARALLEL STRUCTURE.

For example:

  • adjective, adj and adj

  • verb, verb and verb.

  • noun phrase, noun phrase, and noun phrase

Here is a simple example:

It is not really OK to say: I love sleeping, eating and to dance.

It's better to say:

I love sleeping, eating and dancing.

Or: I love to sleep, eat and dance.

BOTH sentences are correct and PARALLEL.

 

Let's try one more:

What is wrong with the following sentence?

He is strong, intelligent and studies very well.

Well, the problem is you have:

STRONG (adjective)

INTELLIGENT (adjective)

STUDIES VERY WELL (verb)

SOLUTION: Try to find an ADJECTIVE for the last word.

He is strong, intelligent and hard-working.

 

Can you see the problem with these sentences from a student’s essay?

  1. Many people can cause problems about security such as robber, smuggling, and criminals who are dangerous.

One solution is:

Dangerous criminals such as robbers or smugglers can cause problems with security.

Notice that in the first sentence, ROBBERS is a noun but SMUGGLING is a verb or maybe a gerund.

In the solution, both ROBBERS and SMUGGLERS are nouns and they both refer to people, or kinds of criminals.

 

NOTE: The best way to use SUCH AS is right AFTER the noun it describes.

For example:

  • He loves playing sports, such as volleyball and tennis.

  • I have worked in many countries, such as Spain, Canada and Vietnam.

 

Can you see the problem with these sentences from a student’s essay? Can you post a solution?

Firstly, tourism provides jobs to serve tourists such as: sales people, working in hotel, restaurant…

NOTE: If you post a solution, do NOT be afraid to use different grammar, sentence structure or vocabulary……

CONTEST: The first person to post a correct answer gets a free class or writing analysis!

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