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When you have a complex topic to explain, parallel style can help your reader grasp your argument more quickly.
James Fallows is an expert writer and pilot. Check out this list from a blog post he wrote that leads nontechnical readers through the basics of air travel and volcanic eruptions. Each first sentence is followed by further, omitted information.
- Is this [kind of eruption] a known issue in aviation weather, aviation safety, and so on?
Yes, indeed.
- Why is this causing such widespread problems?
Because the ash is drifting into such busy traffic lanes.
- Is the mammoth flight-cancellation and attendant disruption a big overreaction?
Really, no one can be sure right now.
- What does this show about the press?
Widely available reports have been accurate, informative, and non-alarmist.
– James Fallows, “FAQ on the Volcanic Ash Mess,” the Atlantic, April 16, 2010
The reader doesn’t need a degree in vulcanology. This parallel Q&A format of a question followed by an initial sentence helps the reader easily pick up the benefit of Fallows’s expertise.
You can use parallel style in a similar way whenever you need to explain your own expertise. Your readers may be very grateful if you stick to a clean, consistent, parallel format to lay out a complex set of ideas.
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For more guidelines on parallel structure in sentences and lists, see our updated book Professional Writing Skills: A Write It Well Guide. Also look for our book Essential Grammar: A Write It Well Guide, which will ship later this summer!
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Journalists sometimes single out words to use in sloppy, repetitive ways. The term kabuki theater is becoming an example.
One writer notes that lately, pundits from respected news outlets have used the term as a lazy way to refer to empty political theatrics. The following list with parallel structure explains why journalists may have turned to this traditional Japanese theater term to make fun of U.S. politicians:
1) It sounds funny.
2) It sounds childish.
3) It sounds foreign.
4) It sounds incomprehensible.
– Jon Lackman, “It’s Time To Retire Kabuki:
The word doesn’t mean what pundits think it does,” Slate, April 14, 2010
Lackman’s parallel sequence of adjectives picks up momentum through the grammatical symmetry across these four sentences. Gramatically parallel lists like these are often a good way to add impact when you lay out your own lines of reasoning.
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For more guidelines on parallel structure in sentences and lists, see our updated book Professional Writing Skills: A Write It Well Guide. Also look for our book Essential Grammar: A Write It Well Guide, which will ship later this summer!
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| To help your writing flow smoothly and make sense, use the same format for items you present in a series. Sentences and lists are awkward when they contain a series of items with inconsistent grammatical structure. But as your reader scans through a series of items with parallel grammatical structure, the relationships between different items of information become clear. Here’s an example:
NOT PARALLEL:
PARALLEL:
In the first example, it’s hard to follow the mix of verb tenses. In the second example, the parallel verb tenses save space and help guide the reader smoothly through the plans for the February meeting. Consistent grammar helps the reader grasp the parallel ideas immediately. Want to practice? Write down which structures in these sentences either are parallel, or should be parallel. If necessary, rewrite the sentences.
Here are the answers. The parallel words are underlined:
The same approach applies to lists, which are much easier to read when their grammar is parallel. For example, if one item begins with a verb, all the items should begin with verbs. If the verb is in the present tense, all the verbs should be in the present tense. NOT PARALLEL:
PARALLEL:
It’s hard to follow the different parts of speech in the first list. It’s much easier to follow the second list because all items start with parallel -ing verbs. Parallel structure can help you organize your thoughts, make your writing flow smoothly, and make your meaning immediately clear. |
Skillful writers can make grammar downright alluring:
“Rare beauty and stunning self-possession … propelled Grace Kelly into the Hollywood pantheon, onto the Best-Dressed List, and ultimately to Monaco’s royal palace …. As London’s Victoria and Albert Museum unveils an exhibition devoted to Kelly’s style, … the author looks at the intertwined qualities of an icon: white-gloved ingénue, elegant goddess, passionate—and frankly sexual—romantic.”
– Laura Jacobs, Vanity Fair, May 2010
These sentences contain a lot of information, but parallel grammar makes them easy to follow. In the first sentence, the author uses prepositions to guide the reader through three aspects of Grace Kelly’s life:
“into the Hollywood pantheon, onto the Best-Dressed List, and ultimately to Monaco’s royal palace.”
In this last sentence, the author pairs a series of adjectives (in orange) with nouns (underlined):
“the intertwined qualities of an icon: white-gloved ingénue, elegant goddess, passionate—and frankly sexual—romantic.”
It pays to think about grammar whenever you write out a list of things or ideas. Parallel grammar keeps your sentences energetic and streamlined, and helps you project a professional image.
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For more guidelines on parallel structure in sentences and lists, see our updated book Professional Writing Skills: A Write It Well Guide. Also look for our book Essential Grammar: A Write It Well Guide, which will ship later this summer!
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Lists are a great way to organize information – especially for a business document. “10 Simple Google Search Tricks” by Simon Mackie (New York Times, April 2, 2010) is a good illustration of how lists get stronger and weaker through parallel grammar. Here are some of the headings in his list:
“1. Use the ‘site:’ operator to limit searches to a particular site.
“2. Use Google as a spelling aid.
“4. Find out what time it is anywhere in the world.
“8. Search for specific document types.
“10. Area code lookup.”
Number 10 sticks out, doesn’t it? Unlike the other list items, it’s not a complete sentence, and it doesn’t have its own verb.
The other items are parallel, complete sentences starting with “Use,” “Find,” “Get,” “Exclude,” and “Search.” After this clear-cut series of verb-driven sentences, “Area code lookup” looks distractingly different.
When you include a bulleted or numbered list in your own documents, consider starting every single item with a verb – say, either all present-tense verbs, or all -ing verbs. Your list will be dynamic, and your reader will stay laser-focused on the series of actions you have in mind.
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For more guidelines on how to use parallel structure in your lists, see our updated book Professional Writing Skills: A Write It Well Guide. Also check out our book Essential Grammar: A Write It Well Guide, which will ship later this summer!
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