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Parellelism. = balance of a series of words, phrases or clauses. What is parallel structure?. Words in a series should be the same part of speech. Examples. The town was small , quiet and peaceful Small/quiet/peaceful = adjectives Ophelia enjoys taking minutes and transcribing them.
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Parellelism = balance of a series of words, phrases or clauses
What is parallel structure? • Words in a series should be the same part of speech
Examples • The town was small, quiet and peaceful • Small/quiet/peaceful = adjectives • Ophelia enjoys taking minutes and transcribing them. • Taking minutes/transcribing them = gerund phrases • Ophelia likes to take minutes and to transcribe them. • To take minutes/to transcribe them = infinitive phrases • History will be kind to me; for I intend to write it. • Both are independent clauses
Lists After a Colon • Be sure to keep all the elements in a list in the same form. • Not Parallel:The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs. • Parallel:The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and irregular verbs.
Phrases must be parallel • Phrases in a series should be the same kind of phrase What is a phrase? • A phrase is a group of related words without a Subject and a Verb. • Examples:The sun rises in the east. (prepositional)He plans to eat. (infinitive)
Practice Unparallel • The sun rises in the east and sets westernly. Parallel • The suns rises in the east and sets in the west. Unparallel • He plans to eat and on sleeping. Parallel • He plans to eat and sleep. [to is understood before sleep]
More Practice • A verb phrase consists of various combinations of the main verb and any auxiliary verbs, plus optional parts of speech • Examples • Yankee batters hit the ball, ran the bases and scoring the runs. • Yankee batters hit the ball, ran the bases and scored the runs. • Mary saw the man through the window, was screaming for her husband and ran outside. • Mary saw the man through the window, screamed for her husband and ran outside. • An noun phrase consists of a main noun or pronoun and is sometimes accompanied by a set of modifiers. • We took the ball that was red, the green bag and the black tent on our camping trip. • We took the red ball, the green bag and the black tent on our camping trip.
Clauses versus Phrases • Clauses have at least a subject and a verb; phrases do not contain subjects or verbs • Main clauses can stand alone; dependent clauses and phrases can never stand alone
Clauses in a series should be parallel • Not Parallel: One clerk polished the antique spoons; they were placed into the display case by the other clerk. • Parallel: One clerk polished the antique spoons; the other clerk placed them into the display case. • Not Parallel:The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game. • Parallel: The coach told the players that they should get alot of sleep,that they shouldnot eat too much, and that they should dosome warm-up exercises before the game. • Parallel:The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not eat too much, and do some warm-up exercises before the game.
Practice • Rewrite the following to make them parallel. • My favourite armchair is lumpy, worn out and has dirty spots everywhere. • She enjoys reading, studying the flute and also sews her own clothes. • I would prefer to fix an old car than watching television. • She was great at swimming, canoeing and as a rock climber. • She is charming and has beauty. • As I looked down the city street, I could see the soft lights from the restaurant windows, I could hear the mellow sounds of nightclub bands and carefree moods of people walking by.
Check your answers • My favourite armchair is lumpy, worn out and covered with dirty spots. • She enjoys reading, studying the flute and also sewing her own clothes. • I would prefer to fix an old car than to watch television. OR I would prefer fixing an old car than watching television. • She was great at swimming, canoeing and as a rock climbing. • She is charming and beautiful. • As I looked down the city street, I could see the soft lights from the restaurant windows, I could hear the mellow sounds of nightclub bands and I could sense the carefree moods of people walking by.
Resources and Assignments • http://wps.pearsoned.ca/ca_mbcl_bovee_buscom_2 - • Grammar and Usage • Exercise Zone • Basic Grammar • Parallel Structure – all exercises • Due by last class in September