After mastering the structural knowledge of To Verb, Ving, Bare Verb, your next step is to move on to the new important grammar part - parallel structure in English. This is not only an important grammar part in exams but also a tool to help your sentences and writing become smoother and easier to understand in all future communication or writing situations.
Parallel structure is a sentence that contains two or more elements or clauses with the same grammatical structure.
For example:
My little brother like swimming, running and playing basketball.
Like adverbial clauses, you can encounter parallel structures in English everywhere, from tests, everyday communication, to songs and academic texts. When a word chain consists of 2 or more words, phrases or clauses, each component in that word chain has the same grammatical structure, which is a sign of parallel structure in English.
For example:
Autumn is famous for turning leaves, cooling temperatures, and darkening nights.
In there turning leaves, cooling temperatures, and darkening nights are all used V-ing + Noun
- Gerund/V-ing
Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling.
- Infinitive
Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a bicycle. or Mary likes to hike, swim, and ridea bicycle.
- Verb
The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and lacked motivation.
My teacher said I was a bad student because I waited until the last minute to take tests, did my lab work carelessly, and lacked motivation.
- Adverb
The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.
- Adjective
This book contains poems which are romantic, soothing, and enjoyable.
- Noun/ Noun phrase
On Saturdays they may visit the open-air market, the docks, or the park.
- Clause
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.
Connecting words commonly used in Parallel Structure: and, but, nor, or, yet, not only … but also
The photos are black and white.
It's an expensive but useful book.
You can pay either by cash or by credit card.
We have just found out an inexpensive yet effective solution to our problem.
She's not only a painter but also a writer.
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ATTENTION: Words/phrases in sentences with Parallel structure in English must be of the same type to express the meaning of listing. - For single words:
→ is the same infinitive → Sai: Can he
→ is the same verb that adds -ing
→ are both adverbs
→ is also an adjective - For phrases or clauses:
→ Sai: He remembered
→ Sai: He suggested
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