Parallelism is also known as parallelism parallel structure. It is a very important linguistic concept that brings balance to the sentences. It includes grammatical structures for items in a list. Learning parallelism meaning in English improves not only your writing quality but also clarity and impact.
In this article, we are going to learn some structures of parallelism with examples. It will help you use them in your English conversations.
Before going deep into this concept, you should have enough knowledge of subjects and predicates. Now let’s understand its definition.
What is the definition of parallelism?
Parallelism in literature is the art of repeating a selected grammatical form in a sentence or passage.
It ensures that equal ideas are presented in a balanced manner.
For example,
Neha enjoys swimming, running, and eating.
In the above sentence, the gerunds (swimming, running, and eating) show a parallel structure.
Maintaining consistency
It doesn’t matter whether you are listing nouns, pronouns, adjectives, phrases, or clauses. It is very important to keep the same grammatical form throughout the sentence.
For example,
Kundan is hard-working, intelligent, and has a great sense of humor.
In this example, the parallel structure makes balance with describing ‘he’ as a pronoun.
Balancing ideas
Parallelism also helps in balancing ideas and emphasizing important points. It also lets the readers follow your thoughts on the same platform.
For example,
To succeed one must work hard be disciplined and stay focused.
In this sentence, the phrases (to work, to be, and to stay) show a great example of parallelism.
Parallelism Examples in Contexts
Noun phrases
When we maintain parallelism in noun phrases, always check that nouns are in the same form in the singular or plural.
For example,
Roma enjoys reading novels and painting landscapes.
Verb phrases
We should always maintain consistency in tense and work forms. Whenever we list actions in sentences.
For example,
Ravi likes to travel, eat, and cook on weekends.
Adjective Phrases
We always maintain consistency when we describe something with objects. It ensures a balanced statement.
For example,
This movie was thrilling suspenseful, and exciting.
Using parallel structure for comparisons.
When we compare, we should always ensure that the structures are parallel to create clarity.
For example,
Rakesh is not only talented but also dedicated to his work.
Correlative conjunctions
The Correlative conjunctions always come with pairs like either or neither nor and both and.
For example,
1) Neha is not only beautiful but also intelligent.
2) He neither came nor talked to me.
3) He is both a content writer and a digital marketer.
Conclusion
Learning parallelism meaning in English is a powerful concept. It improves readability and makes the writing attractive. By applying the above approaches, you can make more understandable sentences.
Practice using parallelism in various contexts. Will surely find it a valuable skill in your writing tool kit.
