Part 5 - HARNESSING PARALLELISM FOR STRUCTURAL BALANCE We saw in the preceding four parts of this series that the consistent use of parallel grammatical structures is the key to more readable, more forceful, and more polished sentences. We also learned that for more cohesive sentences, we should always use parallel structures when presenting various elements in a list, when comparing elements, when joining elements with a linking verb or a verb or being, and when joining elements with correlative conjunctions.
Before winding up our discussions on parallel construction, we’ll take up two more important techniques for harnessing parallelism to give structural balance and better rhythm to our sentences. These techniques can dramatically improve our writing and give it a distinctive sense of style.
Use a parallel structure for adjectives and adverbs. We should aim for parallel patterns when using adjectives and adverbs in our sentences, seeking structural balance for them in much the same way as we do for noun forms, verb forms, infinitives, and gerunds.
Unparallel construction: “She danced
gracefully,
with confidence and
as if exerting no effort at all.” Here, we have a stilted sentence because the modifiers of the verb “danced” have taken different grammatical forms: “gracefully” (adverb), “with confidence” (adjective introduced by a preposition), and “as if exerting no effort at all” (adverbial phrase).
Parallel construction: “She danced
gracefully,
confidently, and
effortlessly.” The consistent adverb/adverb/adverb pattern gives the sentence a strong sense of unity and drama.
Unparallel construction: “The gang attempted
an audacious bank robbery that
was marked by lightning speed and
done in a commando manner.” The sentence reads badly because the three modifiers of “bank robbery” are grammatically different: “audacious” (adjective), “was marked by lightning speed” (participial phrase), and “done in a commando manner” (another participial phrase).
Parallel construction: “The gang attempted an
audacious,
lightning-swift,
commando-type bank robbery.” The sentence reads much more forcefully because of its consistent adjective-adjective-adjective pattern for all of the modifiers of “bank robbery.”
Use parallel structure for several elements serving as complements of a sentence. For more cohesive and forceful sentences, we should always look for a suitable common pattern for their complements. Recall that a
complement is an added word or expression that completes the predicate of a sentence. For instance, in “They included Albert in their soccer lineup,” the phrase “in their soccer lineup” is the complement.
Unparallel construction: “We
basked in the kindness of our gracious hosts,
walking leisurely in the benign morning sunshine, and
the palm trees would rustle pleasantly when we napped in the lazy afternoons.” Here, we have a confusing construction because the three elements serving as complements don’t have a common grammatical pattern: “the kindness of our hosts” (noun phrase), “walking leisurely in the benign morning sunshine” (progressive verb form), and “the palm trees would rustle pleasantly when we napped in the lazy afternoons” (clause).
Parallel construction: “We basked
in the kindness of our gracious hosts,
in the benign sunshine during our early morning walks, and
in the pleasant rustle of the palm trees when we napped in the lazy afternoons.” The sentence reads much, much better this time because the three complements are now all noun phrases set in parallel—“in the kindness of our gracious hosts,” “in the benign morning sunshine during our early morning walks,” and “in the pleasant rustle of the palm trees when we napped in the lazy afternoons.” Note that all three have been made to work as adverbial phrase modifiers of the verb “basked.”
In actual writing, the need to use parallel structures in our sentences won’t always be apparent at first. As we develop our compositions, however, we should always look for opportunities for parallel construction, choose the most suitable grammatical pattern for them, then pursue that pattern consistently. Along with good grammar, this is actually one of the great secrets to good writing that many of us have been looking for all along.
We will wind up this six-part series next week.
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This reprises and updates the author’s 2006 series in his English Plain and Simple columns on parallelism as a mark of good writing. This essay, 2,136th of the series, appears in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the February 2, 2023 digital edition of The Manila Times
, ©2023 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Read this essay in
The Manila Times:
Parallelism as a mark of good writing – 5(Next week:
Parallelism as a mark of good writing - 6) February 9, 2023
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
