1. I came. I saw. I was conquering.

     2. Jeanne is both an artist and she spends time at athletics.

     3. He slowed down and came sliding, and the winning run was scored by him.

Do the sentences above sound awkward to you? We can easily understand what the writer meant to say, but in each case the ideas could be presented more smoothly. Good parallel structure is one thing that can make the difference between simply making your ideas known and communicating effectively. Now consider the same ideas presented with better parallel structure.

     4. I came. I saw. I conquered.

     5. Jeanne is both an artist and an athlete.

     6. He slowed down, slid, and scored the winning run.

In the revised versions, sentences 4, 5, and 6 above, can you see how similar words or phrases ore repeated to express similar ideas? This technique is called parallelism or parallel structure. In number 4, notice how I came, I saw, and I conquered are parallel. Each short sentence has the subject I and a verb in the simple past tense. In number 5, can you see how an artist and an athlete are parallel? Both words are nouns, naming things. In number 6, how are slowed, slid and scored parallel?

When you use parallel structure, you give a smoother, more balanced appearance and sound to your writing. You can balance a noun with a noun:

     He was not only a baseball player but also a fine bowler.

instead of

     He was not only a baseball player but also bowled well.

You can balance an -ing verb with an -ing verb:

     She enjoyed running, hiking, and biking.

instead of

     She liked running, hiking, and to ride her bike.

You can balance a prepositional phrase with a prepositional phrase:

     He wants to write stories that describe the South and to study the habits of the Creoles.

As you become skilled at using parallel structure in your writing, you can enhance not only the clarity of your prose but also its style. Notice how parallel elements contribute to the clarity and style of this sentence by Thomas Wolfe:

"And always America is the place of deathless and enraptured moments, the eye that looked, the mouth that smiled and vanished, and the word; the stone, the leaf, the door we never found and never have forgotten."

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