Parallel Structure

[Music] if you need help with practicing your writing skills check out these workbooks that can be useful in improving your academic writing skills the link is in the description below sometimes when you write an essay your teacher may tell you that your words or your ideas are not parallel or that there is a problem with your parallel structure now parallel structure means that there needs to be a balance in your grammar now this could be with words or phrases or sometimes even with lists in this video i'll show you how you can fix some of these problems parallel structure in writing is something that's needed to make sentences sound more uniform ideas and words need to be parallel so what does parallel mean well when we use nouns in a sentence for example running and jumping in the same sentence we don't want to say running and to jump i like running and to jump this is not parallel when we use infinitives for example to run into jump in a sentence we don't want to use the words to run and then the word jumping it's the same with prepositional phrases we want to write something like this in the morning and at the corner both of these phrases contain a preposition and we don't want to write things like in the morning and then being there this is also true for subordinate clauses parts of sentences that need to go with another clause for example you might say because it helps and after he ate and you don't want to write because he helps and to eat now the center list of words are parallel words they're in the same form but the words on the right are not parallel because they do not have the same pattern now when you write a sentence you do not want to mix the forms all right let's see what that looks like when we actually write some sentences in sentences that use the words and or but you do not want to mix the forms so here's an example john likes reading and to play basketball now these are two things that john likes to do reading and to play basketball but when we write our sentence we really should write it this way john likes reading and playing basketball you can see here that both the words reading and playing are in the same form here's another example john does not like playing basketball or to read books it would be better to write this sentence in this way john does not like playing basketball or reading books now again you can see that in the first sentence the two forms are not the same playing basketball and to read books are not parallel but in the second sentence the words playing and reading are in the same form here's an example with the word but john likes to read but not playing basketball now this should be john likes to read but not to play basketball or it could be written like this john likes reading but not playing basketball as you can see it's important to keep the words parallel now we also don't want to mix forms with phrases here's an example john likes reading after he does his homework or to relax now you can see here that john likes to read but the phrases after that are not parallel after he does his homework is a phrase but it's a lot longer than the words to relax they're also not in the same form so this sentence should look like this john likes reading after he does his homework or when he wants to relax now both races are in the same pattern they're parallel after he does his homework and when he wants to relax are in the same form and are parallel we also want to make sure that our words in a list are in parallel structure so here's an example john likes reading running and to play basketball now you can see here that the first two words are reading and running but then we change to the phrase to play basketball it would be better to write the sentence like this john likes reading running and playing basketball let's look at another example the manager wrote up his report quickly accurately and in detail now this sentence would be better written like this the manager wrote up his report quickly accurately and precisely all three of the words are written as adverbs ending in l y they are parallel let's look at another example she wanted three things out of college to make friends to learn a skill and having a good time now the three ideas at the end of the sentence are not parallel here's a better way to write this sentence she wanted three things out of college to make friends to learn a skill and to have a good time and here's one more example in spring summer or in winter would be better written this way in spring summer or winter let's look at just a few more examples the manager told his workers that they should be on time that they should be focused and do their best to improve productivity now these three phrases are not parallel this is better the manager told his workers that they should be on time that they should be focused and that they should do their best to improve productivity and here's another shortened form of that same sentence the manager told his workers that they should be on time be focused and do their best to improve productivity now we do not want to mix forms with sentences that use the words not only but also here's an example the manager argued not only about the price but he also argued about the production time now we really don't need the words he also argued this sentence is more parallel the manager argued not only about the price but also about the production time the two phrases are about the price and about the production time let's practice how to fix this kind of problem with parallel structure by using these sentences managing your money well is to be prepared for the future how would you fix this sentence so it's more parallel this sentence would be better like this managing your money well is preparing for the future here both of the words end in ing all right let's try this one the manager suggested changing the price and to write better instructions how would you make this more parallel here's one possibility the manager suggested changing the price and writing better instructions here's another one for you to try many young people like to do extreme sports and watching technique videos of others on youtube how would you fix this sentence here's one possibility many young people like to do extreme sports and to watch technique videos of others on youtube however this choice might be better many young people like participating in extreme sports and watching technique videos of others on youtube sometimes you will need to change the words to make the sentence more parallel and here's one more for you to fix good sense and being thoughtful are two good qualities to have how would you fix this one here is a possible answer having good sense and being thoughtful are two good qualities to have so how can you avoid problems with parallel structure well one thing you can do is to look for sentences in your writing that contain the words and and or and then check to see if the ideas are in parallel structure also you can make sure that any lists of words or ideas are parallel and sometimes reading the sentences out loud will help you to hear if the rhythm is wrong for example do all the words end in ing endings some of these things might help you as you look at your sentences to check for parallel structure now parallel structure in writing is very important so as you write be careful that you have your words in parallel structure happy writing [Music]

Channel: Writing Better

Views: 4,246

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Id: oSPVUEx25kw

Length: 11min 10sec (670 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 22 2021