Writing Skills: Parallel Structure

hi welcome to right to top I'm Adam in today's video we're going to talk about parallel structure now parallel structure is a very important element of writing not so much speaking because you can make mistakes and people will probably not even notice it but in writing making mistakes with parallel structures can be very confusing to the reader okay use it for lists use it for comparisons and we use it for options etc very important to know how to use it so the first thing we're going to look at is what is a parallel structure so first of all what is parallel if you think about math we have two lines going in the same direction in the same degree they're never going to touch those lines are called parallels in grammar it's the same thing inside a clause when we use a conjunction we're going to have both sides of the conjunction we're going to have the same form and function okay very important that the same form and function appear on both sides of the conjunction very important that you recognize that there's an anchor now what is an anchor and an anchor is the thing that carries to both sides of the conjunction the both elements or three or four elements depending if it's a list it could have many but the anchor is the one thing that carries all the way across the be a subject could be a verb could be a preposition it could be a colon you're introducing a list so all these things tell you that you're looking for the parallel structure and it's very important to have these those of you taking the English tests they're looking for this they want to make sure that you have an understanding of a parallel structure we use it with conjunctions and buts or and we use them with comparatives okay so this is where you're going to use them in lists now what does it mean to have a parallel so when you're introducing a list you're going to have items in that list all the items must be written in the same way if you start with a noun for the first item on the list make sure that all the items on the list are nouns if you're starting with an infinitive verb infinitive infinitive infinitive gerund all the way through clause all the way through so whatever way you start your make sure you continue your list all the way to the last item with the same form of the item itself when you're comparing you're using vanore as to compare two things or three things as the case may be make sure that both sides of the comparative van or as are the same form it's better to do a than to do B don't write it's better to do a than doing B that is not correct that is not parallel okay doing a is as good as doing be okay notice that the things are the same now in this case what is the what is the anchor in the first one the anchor is better better to do a then to do B it is better to do a then it is to do B okay and the better it goes to both let's say in the next one as good as both things that's the anchor as well in possessives it's very important when you're comparing two possessives that you have the possessive on both sides otherwise it could be very confusing now if you're not sure what I'm talking about don't worry I'm going to give you lots of examples to explain this and when we're talking about conjunctions in with the parallels okay the coordinating conjunctions we're using and but or so yet and four are not used because they don't introduce lists so yet and four only connect two independent clauses we're talking about parallels we're talking about within a clause not necessarily within a sentence so and but or can join things within a clause and it connected back to that anchor again I'll explain this with more examples and also when we're using correlative conjunctions either or neither nor not only but also same thing applies on both sides of the conjunction or nor but make sure that the function and the form of the two items or three or four is the case may be are in the same form okay let's look at example the only way to understand all this is through examples okay so let's look at some lists the mineral iron has health benefits including but not limited to a lot more better metabolism of proteins it increases production of hemoglobin and it protects against anemia so you think okay well I got my three items in my list these are all the benefits of iron what's the problem well the problem is that you started your list with better metabolism adjectives and comparative adjectives and now then in the next two items you went to an independent clause it increases production okay so right now you don't have a parallel and then what you actually do have is a call a run-on sentence you have what three different independent clauses not joined by a conjunction so you want to make sure it's parallel if you started with better metabolism make sure you go to another comparative adjective and another noun another comparative adjective and another noun so here's the example the mineral iron has several health benefits including but not limited to better metabolism of proteins increased production of hemoglobin and stronger protection against anemia comparative noun comparative mound comparative now you have parallel structures all the way through easy for the reader to understand that you're presenting a list now if you do want to use the independent clauses as your I a list items you can do that as well use a colon to introduce your list the mineral iron has several health benefits : okay it better metabolizes protein so now I've changed metabolism to metabolizes I've made a verb out of it it increases production and it offers stronger protection independent clause all the way through introduced by a colon that colon is now your anchor it means that I'm introducing a list and I can put any item any form in that list as long as all three items have the same form okay much simpler example Jim likes swimming cycling and to play soccer now again the reader will understand this that's not a problem but it still it jars the system it's not comfortable for the reader to read it like this swimming cycling to play soccer if you started with swimming keep going with the ing s if you started with to keep going with the two's gym like swimming cycling and to play soccer sorry that's the first one Jim like swimming cycling and playing soccer Jim likes to swim to cycle and to play soccer okay I have to use the twos in all three here because they are completely different Jim likes to swim cycle and play soccer doesn't work because they all go to soccer soccer becomes the anchor if you want to separate each of them individually to swim to cycle to play two to two each one is its own activity none of them are miss connected with the other and what is the anchor likes is the anchor likes what to swim one to cycle two to play soccer and they're all objects to like the anger okay let's look at a little more complicated examples a few more complicated examples all campers are advised to bring mosquito spray a waterproof rain jacket and to be on time for departure Saturday morning now here you have a problem because you're confusing lists there are actually two lists I guess you could say it to item list is still a list all campers are advised what to bring mosquito spray and to be on time now a second list is to bring what to bring mosquito spray and a waterproof jacket so you have two lists the anchor of the first one is bring the anchor of the second one is advised so here's two ways to fix it all campers are advised to bring mosquito spray and a waterproof jacket so mosquito spray and a waterproof jacket they're parallel and they are both the objects of ring comma and to be on time so advised what to bring and to be the the other anchor is advised so now because you have the comma and and you have the original and in the fruit in the other list you have two separate lists and I know that there are two separate lists now if you're not exactly sure if you're getting the parallels if you're making the list proper split the sentence into all campers are advised to being mosquito spray and a waterproof range period they should also make sure to be on time for departure Saturday morning so you have your two clear messages separated and it's very easy for the reader however better for you in terms of scoring on your tests to have a nice complex sentence with the two lists and a one sentence together but with parallel structures I'll get you the extra points in your writing section but we're going to get a little bit more complicated than this as well whether you arrive by plane by train or car make sure you have all the proper documents to pass the border so you're thinking okay well now now no right it's not only the noun it has to be the whole form the whole function by plane by train or car so two of these have a preposition one does not so this is not parallel with prepositions and with articles you also have to have parallel so you can in this case by is now the anchor arrived how by plane arrived this is your verb and all three will come to arrive but by is also an anchor so either you can give let the buy carry over you put the first one and the next two are understood or you put all three whether you arrive by plane train or car make sure dot okay so the by carries over or whether you arrive by plane by train or by car then go on so you have two options first item and then let the preposition carry or all items have the preposition don't have two out of three three out of four two out of four first only or all those are your two options when it comes to prepositions same thing for articles I'll have the steak salad and the suit so I have two out of three dots I'll have the steak the salad the suit or I'll have the steak salad and soup okay that's what we're looking at make sure everything carries over make sure all items match the form okay now now we're looking at a little bit more complicated because now we're introducing clauses when studying ancient cultures one should consider what how the locals dressed how they congregated for special occasions and did they express their dissatisfaction with local authorities so I have two noun clauses and then a question so this is not parallel it's a little bit confusing are you asking a question or you tell me what the what you should consider for example you're an anthropologist so again different ways to fix it when studying ancient cultures one should consider how to consider how the locals dressed how they congregated and how if at all they expressed how clauses all the way through but you have to keep in mind I don't have to use how clauses this how clause is an actually actually a noun clause so the key is to use a noun clause all the way through you can change the pronoun you can change the type of noun clause you can't get away from noun clauses in studying ancient cultures once you've considered how the locals dressed how they congregated and whether they expressed how whether but all three are noun clauses all three act as objects to the verb consider the anchor now you can also change it the other way if you want to make questions in studying ancient cultures one should ask the following questions dot-dot : did they dress in a pro cultura in a certain way did they congregate for special occasions in a certain way and did they express their dissatisfaction with local authorities question question question and Clause now I'm calling the man Clause doesn't matter which way you want to do it make sure it's parallel all the way through and all items in the list okay let's go on I would rather now we're going to compare I would rather pay for my schooling myself than borrowing money so would rather what pay for or borrowing pay base we're borrowing jaren they don't agree they're not parallel I would rather pay for my schooling myself then borrow for it would rather pay than borrow okay both sides of the van comparative and the anchor is weird other possessives Hemingway's novels are more interesting than Fitzgerald now here the problem is that you're comparing novels to a person Hemingway's novels more interesting than Fitzgerald Fitzgerald is a person is an author the Great Gatsby you can't compare novels to a person you can compare novels to novels people to people so make sure that if you're using a possessive it's on both sides Hemingway's novels are more interesting than Fitzgerald's novels I don't need to say novels it's understood because of the possessive this is a very common mistake in writing for on these tests and it will actually cost you points because it's confusing to the reader if the reader has to stop and try to figure out what you're trying to say you're slowing down the pace the flow the comprehension eating well is as important as exercise when it comes to fitness easy gerund exercise regular now eating well is as important as exercising when it comes to fitness eating well exercising or it is equally important to eat well and to exercise when you can say equally important to eat well and to exercise or equally important to eat well as it is to exercise either way is okay if you use as make sure you have both both sides the same I'm going to have to introduce the full independent clause it is important - it is important - okay hope we're getting this is kind of ok ok let's look at the next example some people would argue that saving their money is safer for their family's future than to invest it in risky ventures such as the stock market or to let the bank invest it for them this could be a little bit confusing because you're comparing things that but you're also introducing two items in the list right argue what that saving their money is safer so you're right away you notice the comparison for the family's future then to invest it so saving and then safer then to invest right away you don't have the parallel it's a little bit confusing or to let so now you have a comparative and you have two options somewhere in there if you make everything parallel it's easier for everything to connect to everything else some people would argue that saving their money is safer for the family's future than investing it so saving is safer than investing or letting in a risky venture such as a stock market or letting the bank invest it further so right now you're comparing saving to two other options saving is safer than investing or letting the bank right so right away you make it much clearer the two options are investing or letting and both of these options are less safe than saving money according to some people so argue is the anchor that is telling you what the object to argue what they're going to what they argue and then saving is comparing to two options investing or letting everything is parallel much easier to the reader to understand okay the Internet has not only opened the world of academia to those who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to attain higher quality education it also gives them the chance to be heard and reach the world with their message so a couple of things we have to look at here we have not only but also that you don't have to use the but it's understood but if you want to that's fine too now here we have two things we have to look at the Internet has not only opened it has it also gives so right away we have a little bit of a problem are we talking about the internet now are we talking about the Internet in general since its beginning I've used a present perfect the first one I'm using a simple present the second one it's a little bit confusing what time are we what Internet are we looking at today's internet or all Internet usage so first of all you want to make sure that your verb tense agrees not always the case but sometimes it is very important that it is the case especially when you have the correlative conjunctions so the Internet has not only opened the world of academia to those who would not otherwise have it it has also given them so it has done two things the internet is the subject this is your anchor has opened and has given those are the two things were listing now the chance the chance what chance I want to know what chance I want to give a compliment I want to completely a meaning of the word chance this is the anchor for the second part the chance to be heard and to reach now why am I using 2 & 2 why don't I let the first to carry because these are two separate activities the each of them is individually completing the meaning of the word chance the chance to be heard and the chance to reach the two doesn't carry because these are two different items or not listing them as items of what a chance is there both individually working to identify the chance did the Internet has given people to make sure you have both twos another one at the end of his investigation the examiner produced his findings in which he concluded that human error was in fact blamed for the crash as opposed to the generalist claimed that it was shot down and the airline's ensure should be held liable for any compensation or to the families of the victims so right here we have a little bit of a confusion we have two people making claims we have the examiner making conclusions we have the general making a claim so the second part and the airline's insurer should be held liable who said this the examiner or the general right so another thing to keep in mind is that I have to that clauses concluded that human error and claimed that it was shot down so we have to I know that the first one belongs to the examiner I know that the second one belongs to the general I don't know who the last one belongs to and the airlines so right away I want to reintroduce the that pronoun at the end of his investigation the examiner produces findings in which he concluded that human error was in fact to blame for the crash as opposed to the general theory that it was shot down and that the airlines sure should be helped so by reintroducing the second that I'm going back to my original anchor the examiner concluded what that human error was in fact to blame and that the airlines is sure should be held and I notice both of them have passives and passage okay if I don't add a second that then I get confused I think that the general theory that it was shot down and that the Airlines is sure should be held I think the general said this but it doesn't actually make sense if it was shot down when you can sue the country that shot the plane down insure is not responsible for this type of situation now the comma is very important because it tells you that you're separated you're getting into a new part of a list and also we have comma as opposed to down comma that piece there that's called an appositive it's just an expression that adds a little bit of more information that you can actually take out and the sentence will still be complete okay so when you have that clauses and they're interrupted by other that clauses or by our positives or other expressions that separate the list too far apart reintroduce the pronoun that to let the reader know that you're going back to the original list back to the original anchor in which case concluded that human error that the airline's etc a little bit confusing but this practice you'll get used to it if you do a lot of reading you'll actually see this sort of thing happening regularly okay let's look at one more thing some of the classes will be taught in English but most used French so the problem with this example is that I'm using a passive in the first part of the clause I'm using a active in the second part after but the problem is that I'm using the same subject some of the classes most means most of the classes right so the problem is that I have the same anchor and I have a passive and enacted it gets very confusing because most of the classes use French classes don't use anything teachers professors textbooks use a language the classes are conducted or are taught in a certain language some of the classes will be taught in English but most will be conducted in French if you want to have the parallel with the same anchor subject classes will be taught will be conducted passive but passive now one last point I want to make about all this and let's look at the last example here the experiment was conducted on three separate groups but the doctors only gave two of them the drug into the third they gave a placebo I went from a passive to enacted why because I separated the two clauses the two independent clauses into three standing clauses the experiment was conducted on three separate groups period the doctors only gave two of them the drug into the third they gave a placebo okay I can make these two separate sentences but I want to join them with a conjunction but the reason I can change from passive to active is because I've changed the subject I've changed the anchor in fact there is no anger right because there's no anchor you don't have to have the parallel so it's very important to remember and to always recognize if you have an angry if the anchor if you have something that applies to both sides of the conjunction both sides of the conjunction must be parallel must have the same form and function if you're changing if you're getting rid of anchor if there's no anchor do whatever you want okay so that's very important to remember parallel structures you have an anchor you have a conjunction and you have similar functions and forms good I hope that was a little bit helpful is I know it's a little bit confusing but you can practice this and you can try doing the separate like different all kinds of sentences on your own in fact if you want to practice you can put your practice sentences here below in YouTube I will check them I will comment on them you can also comment on each other if somebody put an example feel free to tell them whether they did or did not get the parallel correct if you have any questions of course please ask me here below in YouTube and ask me Facebook Twitter Instagram etc I hope you like this video please give me a like if you did subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and I'll see you again real soon more or less in on grammar vocab writing test preparation everything you need for success see you again soon

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Keywords: ielts, English writing, English, writing, language test, English test, task 2, IELTS academic essay, grammar, structure, writetotop.com, TOEFL, independent task, independent essay, essay writing, how to write, usage, skills, sentence structure, test preparation, test tips, pass the IELTS, ielts high score, toefl high score, pass toefl, Engvid Teacher Adam, TOEIC, parallel structure, conjunctions, language skills

Id: aegHY25vbX8

Length: 24min 10sec (1450 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 03 2016