Revising for Parallelism I
The goal of writing is to communicate ideas, and sentence structure is the framework used to support those ideas. When you write a properly constructed sentence, chances are your readers won't even notice how it has been put together. Improperly constructed sentences, however, are awkward, and this awkwardness interferes with your reader's ability to give full attention to your message.
When you find an awkward sentence in your writing, check to see whether you need to revise for parallelism. In a sentence with parallel construction, the same grammatical form is used for a series of words, phrases, or clauses. For example, if a prepositional phrase is used for the first idea, prepositional phrases should be used for the related ideas that follow. If a gerund or a participle is used for the first, gerunds or participles should be used for the others.
Not parallel
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To write and communicating are not necessarily the same thing.
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Parallel
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To write and to communicate are not necessarily the same thing.
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Parallel
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Writing and communicating are not necessarily the same thing.
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If an article (a, an, or the) or a preposition (such as for, at, or in) applies to all the items in the series, it should appear before only the first item or before every item.
Not parallel
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Revising is important for essays, for stories, and other formal writing.
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Parallel
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Revising is important for essays, stories, and other formal writing.
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Parallel
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Revising is important for essays, for stories, and for other formal writing.
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This rule should also be applied to pronouns, such as who and that, and to helping verbs, such as am, is, have, had, can, could, will, and would.
Not parallel
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I had researched the topic, made an outline, and had written a draft.
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Parallel
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I had researched the topic, made an outline, and written a draft.
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Parallel
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I had researched the topic, had made an outline, and had written a draft.
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