chomp! chomp!
This presentation is brought to you by Grammar Bytes! , ©2015 by Robin L. Simmons.
Parallel Pa rallel Str uctu ucture re
Do I maintain parallelism with a participle ?
Or should I use an infinitive ?
This presentation covers distinguishing between parallel and non-parallel elements.
A pa r al le li sm i te m on a n objective test might look like this . . .
Sample Item Directions: Choose the sentence that has no errors in Directions: Choose structure. A. Eileen bought bought new shoes for the the party, party, a gold charm for her mother, mother, and to treat her best friend Maria to lunch. B. Eil Eileen een deci decided ded to buy new shoe shoes s for for the the party party,, purchasing a gold charm for her mother, and treating her best friend Maria to lunch. C. Eil Eileen Eileen Eile een en purcha pu purchased purcha rchased sed sednew ne nw new ewshoes sho shoes es forfor thethe party, party party, party , a ,gold go aldgold gold charm for charm forher hermother, mother, and and lunch lunch forfor Maria, Maria, herher bestbest friend. friend.
It e ms in a s er ie s mu st h ave av e p a ra ll el st r u ct ur e. Parallelism looks Parallelism looks like this: Shane
,
, and
.
Shane
,
, and
.
He r e i s an e x am pl e:
Shane ate ate the the pizza, wiped wiped his his lips, and burped with burped with contentment.
Ate = past tense verb; wiped = past tense verb; and burped and burped = past tense verb.
Don t create problems by mixing grammatical elements. ’
Non-parallel structure looks like this:
Shane
,
, and
.
Shane
,
, and
.
Th e p ro bl em l oo ks l ike ik e t hi s: Shane ate ate the the pizza, wiped wiped his his lips, and with contentment. burping with burping
Now look Now look what you ve done ! ! Ate Ate and wiped and wiped = past tense verbs, but burping = present participle! ’
Quick Test, Test, Par t 1 Directions: In the items that follow, choose Directions: In the sentence that has no errors in structure.
Let s see how you how you perform! ’
Item 1 A. Barking dogs, kittens that were meowing, and squawking parakeets greet the pet shop visitors. B. Barking Bark Barking Barki ing ng dogs, ddogs, ogs, meowi meowing meowing meow ng ing kittens, kittens kittens, kitten , and as,ndand squawking squaw king parakeets greet squawking parakeets the pet greet shop visitors. the pet shop visitors. C. Dogs that bark, that bark, kittens kittens that that meow meow, and C. Dogs parakeets that bark, that bar squawking k, kittens kittensgreet that meow that meo the pet w, and shop visitors. squawking greet the pet shop parakeets visitors.
Item 2 A. A. During During Duri ngclass, class,Samuel class, Samuelspent Samuel spen spent t hishis his time timflirting time e flirting flirting with Brittney, with Brittney, eatingeating candy,candy, and doodling and doodling on the on assignment the assignment sheet. sheet. B. During During class, class, Samuel Samuel spent spent his time time flirting flirting with Brittney, he ate candy, and doodling on the assignment sheet. C. During During class, class, Samuel Samuel spent spent his his time time to flirt flirt with with Brittney, to eat candy, and doodling on the assignment sheet.
Item 3 A. Alex looked everywhere for his math math book — under the bed, on his desk, and he searched inside the refrigerator refrigerator.. B. Alex Alex looked looked ever everywh ywhere ere for for his math math book book — viewing under the bed, searching on his desk, and inside the refrigerator refrigerator.. C. Alex Alex looked looked looke deveryw everywhere everywhere everywher here efor forfor hishis his mat math math h book boobook bkook — — under the under thebed, bed,on onhis his desk, desk, and and inside inside thethe refrigerator. refrigerator.
Item 4 A. A. The manager manager manag erwanted wantedstaff wanted staf staff staff f who who who arrived arrived arrived on on time, smiledsmiled time, at the customers, at the customers, and didnand t snack didn on t the chicken snack on the nuggets. chicken nuggets. ’
B. The manage managerr wanted wanted staff staff who arrived arrived on time, time, would be smiling at the customers, and would not be snacking on the chicken nuggets. C. The manager manager wanted wanted staff staff who arrived arrived on time, time, smiled at the customers, and no snacking on the chicken nuggets.
Item 5 A. A. After Afte Afterr giving givingJeremy giving Jeremyher Jeremy her phone phonnumber, phone number e number numb , er, Felicia , Felicia Felicia had to tolerate had to tolerate his late hisnight late calls, nightstupid calls, conversations, stupid and requests for and conversations, her math requests homework. for her math B. homework. After givin giving g Jeremy Jeremy her phone phone numb number er,, Felicia Felicia had had B. to After tolerate givinghis Jeremy Jerem late ynight her phone her pho calls, nethe number, number fact that , Felicia Felic heia had had carried to tolerate on stupid his lateconversations, night calls, theand factrequests that he for her math carried onhomework. stupid conversations, and requests for C. her Aftermath giving giving homework. Jeremy Jerem y her phone phone number number,, Felicia had C. to After tolerate givingbeing Jeremy Jerem woken y her phone up latenumb number at night, er,, Felicia Felic having ia had stupid to tolerate conversations, being woken and uphe late constantly at night, requested having her math stupid conversations, homework. and he constantly requested her math homework.
Quick Test, Test, Par t 2 Directions: In the items that follow, choose Directions: In the correct word or phrase within the context suggested by the sentence.
Now try a different type!
Item 6 Pasta boiling in water water,, __________, and garlic bread baking in the oven welcomed Francisco as he opened the door. A.simmered tomato sauce in the the pan B.tomato sauce B.tomato saucesimmering simmering in in thethe pan pan C.tomato sauce that simmered in the pan D.saucy tomatoes that were simmering in the pan
Item 7 During our vacation in the Bahamas, we hope __________, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, sunsets, and to dance ourselves dizzy at reggae clubs. A.that we eat delicious delicious seafood B.that eating delicious seafood occurs C.to eat C.to eat delicious deliciousseafood seafood D.eating delicious seafood
Item 8 Karen wished Ray chewed with his mouth closed, for otherwise he was everything she wanted in a date; he was tall, intelligent, and __________. A.he looked good B.being good looking C.one handsome man to look at D.handsome D.handsome
Item 9 To win Laurie s love, Albert Albert visited the florist for roses, the drugstore for a box of chocolates, and __________. ’
A.bought an expensive gold necklace at the jewelry store B.the jeweler B.the jewelerfor foran anexpensive expensive gold gold necklace necklace C.the jeweler where he bought an expensive gold necklace D.to buy an expensive gold necklace
Item 10 Kimberly won t date Terry because he is too short, too noisy, and _________. ’
A.because he picks his teeth teeth with his fingers B.too impolite B.too impolite C.is the most impolite man she has ever met D.Picking his teeth with his fingers
Grammar Bytes! provides additional handouts and exercises on parallel structure . Go to chomp! chompchomp.com ! chomp!
The End.
