What is parallelism, and why does it matter?
Most simply, parallelism is a balanced sentence structure. Words, phrases, and clauses should all be parallel. To achieve parallelism, sequential words, phrases, and clauses should all begin and end the same way. The following video will help you to understand all of the areas related to parallelism.
Introduction to Parallel Structure
by
Dr. Conrad van Dyk
Parallelism is likely the most important technique for writing sentences that sound crisp. Parallelism contributes to a clean and clear rhythm in a sentence, and when a sentence is not parallel, the reader can become distracted by clunky sentence structure. In a way, parallelism is the practice of making sure a sentence is aligned. When you consider the construction of a house, a house may be adequate as shelter, but if its frame is not properly assembled, its construction is weakened and the house may even look off kilter. A sentence may be complete with only a subject and verb, but parallelism adds an expert, professional touch.
Click here to begin the lesson on parallelism.