MAC3: S5 (Parallel structures)

True or false?

Parallelism in grammar is defined as two or more phrases or clauses in a sentence that have the same grammatical structure.

• True

• False

True or false?

A sentence with parallel construction makes your writing effective and classy.

• True

• False

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

They usually like practising, competing, and to eat ice cream sandwiches.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In the sentence 'They usually like practising, competing, and to eat ice cream sandwiches.' we can see that we have 2 verbs in the -ing form and then another in the infinitive, which seems a bit odd.

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

They usually like practising, competing, and eating ice cream sandwiches.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In this sentence 'They usually like practising, competing, and eating ice cream sandwiches.' all verbs are used in the gerund (-ing form).

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

They usually like to practise, compete, and eat ice cream sandwiches.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In this sentence 'They usually like to practise, compete, and eat ice cream sandwiches.' all verbs are used in the infinitive.

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

For lunch, we like lamb chops and to fry brussels sprouts.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In the sentence 'For lunch, we like lamb chops and to fry brussels sprouts.' we should have like + noun and noun (we like lamb chops and brussels sprouts).

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

For lunch, we like lamb chops and brussels sprouts.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In this sentence 'For lunch, we like lamb chops and brussels sprouts.' we have like + noun and noun.

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

For lunch, we like to grill lamb chops and fry brussels sprouts.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In the sentence 'For lunch, we like to grill lamb chops and fry brussels sprouts.' we have like to + verb + noun and verb + noun.

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

Public transit such as buses or a train can help reduce air pollution.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In the sentence 'Public transit such as buses or a train can help reduce air pollution.' we have such as + plural noun (buses) + singular noun (a train), so not a good example of parallelism.

Is the sentence below a good example of parallelism?

Public transit such as buses or trains can help reduce air pollution.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

In the sentence 'Public transit such as buses or trains can help reduce air pollution.' we have such as + plural noun or plural noun