PARALLELISM
 A balance of two or more similar words, phrases or
clauses.
 It improves writing style and readability.
 It is also known as parallel structures.
Parallelism of words
Gerund (verbal nouns): He enjoys singing, dancing and
acting.
Adjectives: She was young, beautiful and intelligent.
Adverb: He spoke simply, clearly and forcibly.
Parallelism of phrases
Infinitive phrases: He likes to read novels, to write
limericks and to act on the stage.
Prepositional phrase (adjectival phrases): She had the
gift of youth, of beauty and of intelligence.
Prepositional phrase (adverbial phrases): He spoke with
simplicity, with directness and with force.
Parallelism of clauses
Adjective clause: Any young man who likes a little
adventure and who wants to save money at the same
time will find working on an ore freighter idea.
Adverbial clause: I noticed that I was perspiring
profusely, not because of the weather but because of
nervousness.
Faulty parallelism: She is young, well-educated and has an
aggressive manner. (young and well educated are adjectives;
has an aggressive manner is a predicate.)
Revised: She is young, well-educated and aggressive. (All
adjectives)
_________
Faulty parallelism: The crowd began to wave Philippine flags
and shouting “mabuhay.” (An infinitive is made parallel with
gerund)
Revised: The crowd began waving Philippine flags and to
shout “mabuhay.”
*Note: Parallel sentence elements should be expressed in
the same grammatical forms.
Faulty parallelism: She would neither write nor would she
speak to him. (Neither is followed by a main verb, nor by an
auxiliary verb.)
Revised: She would neither write nor speak to him.
REDUNDANCY
 Redundancy is the unnecessary repetition of an idea.
Like deadwood it can weaken the expression of your
idea. It may occur in words, phrases and clauses of your
sentence.
Redundant Words
Repeat the meaning of the other words in the sentence.
-Redundant adjective: He studied past history extensively.
Revised: He studied history extensively.
-Redundant noun: The consensus of opinion was taken into
consideration.
Revised: The consensus was taken into consideration.
(Consensus means a collective opinion.)
-Redundant adjective: The present incumbent president is
Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
Revised: The incumbent president is Benigno Simeon Aquino
III. (Incumbent means the person who is presently occupying
a position in an office.)
-Redundant: Betty is more taller than Mila.
Revised: Betty is taller than Mila. (Both words indicate a
comparative degree.
Redundant Phrases
Redundant phrases can clutter your sentences with ideas
that have already been expressed by other words in the
sentences.
Redundant: Pat’s face turned red in color, and he ran from
the room.
Revised: Pat’s face turned red, and he ran from the room.
Redundant Clauses
Redundant clauses can make sentences illogical or even
pointless. We can delete the redundant clauses either by
letting the main clause stand alone or by adding a
meaningful subordinate clause.
Redundant: The child asked unanswerable questions that no
one could answer.
Revised: The child asked unanswerable question.
Prepared by:
Michael E. Lim-B
Exercise: point out redundant structures on the
following sentences.
1. She had an idea in her head that would solve the
problem.
2. The car is so black in color that it was hard to see
when parked at night.
3. When he was finally alone by himself, Jeb took out a
book.
4. On their way home, the girls stamped noisily by our
room.
5. He was a negligent driver because he was careless.
6. 7. To find my keys, I retraced my steps back to my
front door.
8. He was fired for an excess of too many absences.
9. TV personalities are prone to public scrutiny and
criticism.
10. Tom loves climbing up high the tree every
weekend.
11. If all of us cooperate together, we will succeed.
12. It was a general consensus of opinion that we
should watch Eclipse.
13. The professor asked his students to cite the moral
lesson of the story.
14. The class will end exactly 3:00 pm in the afternoon.
15. I wish to have PC computer.