Parallelism

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. Also called parallel structure.

By convention, items in a series appear in parallel grammatical form: a noun is listed with other nouns, an -ingform with other -ing forms, and so on. In traditional grammar, failure to express such items in similar grammatical form is called faulty parallelism.

Parallelism refers to using elements in sentences that are grammatically similar or identical in structure, sound, meaning, or meter. This technique adds symmetry, effectiveness and balance to the written piece.

Examples of parallelism.

* You need to work quickly and decisively.

* He was a prolific author, writing poems, short stories, novels, and screenplays.

* Like father, like son.

* This is not only just what I wanted, but also just what I needed.

* Congress needs to either reduce spending or raise taxes.

* She is sneaky and manipulative.

* In the parade the Boy Scouts presented the colors, the band marched and the mayor rode in a convertible.

* The escaped criminal was wanted dead or alive.

* Mother was very busy gathering the laundry, dusting the furniture and washing the dishes.

* Easy come, easy go.

* How you live your life is more important than how many millions you have.

* To survive you need: water, food and shelter.

* I want to have both a new house and a new wardrobe.

* For exercise, I prefer swimming to calisthenics.

* You may respond by calling, visiting or e-mailing.

* What goes around comes around.

* I am neither a Catholic nor a Protestant.

* My favorite foods are pizza, chocolate, steak and donuts.

* He likes television shows that have deep characters, interesting stories and good actors.

* My face is washed, my hair is combed and my teeth are brushed.

* We are giving away our furniture, selling our house and moving to Spain.

* Flying is fast, comfortable, and safe.

* To succeed in life, you...