PARALLEL STRUCTURES

1. Review of Parallel Structures

Some aspects of parallel structures discussed in Book One include parallel words and
phrases that present information in a series. The parallel sentence elements are usually
linked with the connectives and, or, and but. Here is a review.

Words or phrases in a series must be in parallel form.

Words: I am reading about the use and origin of foreign words in our language.
Arnold is friendly and patient, but unfortunately, stingy.
The professor teaches patiently and well.
Phrases: Ronald likes to read novels and (to) watch movies.
I tried biking, exercising at the gym, and doing yoga.
You can take the bus or go by taxi.
I didn’t park the car in front of the building but behind it.

Check your understanding.

Directions: Correct the mistake in each of the following sentences.
1. Mr. Hall is famous for his kindness and he is generous.
2. My roommate Ben is very intelligent but he is an introvert.
3. Christina can type very quickly but careless.
4. Finally we have a house that provides us shelter and comfortable.
5. The boy cleans the house, mowing the lawn, and must water the plants.
6. Jamie plans to spend her summer holidays learning a new language or travel.
7. You will have to dust the furniture and washing the dishes.
8. The vase is to be put on that table or that cabinet.
9. The man was arrested for being a murderer and robbery.
10. A good leader must be honest, having knowledge, courage, and charismatic.

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2. More on Parallel Structures

Sentence elements that are connected with the paired conjunctions both … and, not only
… but also, either … or, and neither … nor, require parallel structures. This unit
discusses how words are matched with words, and phrases with phrases.

Words
Nouns: Life is both a mystery and a drama.
Adjectives: To have committed such a crime, he must have been either insane or drunk.
Adverbs: My doctor told me I should neither smoke nor drink.
Phrases
Infinitives: He works hard and well not only to earn a living but also to gain
satisfaction.
Gerunds: Neither doing it now nor postponing it until later will affect the whole plan.
Nouns: Both the audience’s booing and the referee’s partiality disturbed the team.
Verbs: You can either buy the book or borrow it from the library.
Prepositions: We judge people not only by their words but also by their deeds.

Strategies

1. Words or phrases in a series must be grammatically parallel.

Check your understanding.

Directions: Circle the paired conjunctions and underline the parts that should be
parallel. Decide which ones are wrong. Correct the mistakes.
1. According to Mr. Jones, we must both write a paper and we must present it.
2. Either Greg or Joy will receive a scholarship from the university.
3. My guest would like to travel either by train or plane.
4. After school, Tracy both reviewed her notes and does her homework.
5. Since the students were tired, they did the test neither seriously nor careful.

Sample item
The computer is neither a superhuman nor it is a robot, for it cannot do the things it
A B C D
can do by itself.
You should choose option B because after the word nor, we need a noun that is
parallel with a superhuman. It should be a robot.

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2. Use paired conjunctions correctly to join words or phrases of the same structure.

Check your understanding.

Directions: Circle the paired conjunctions and underline the parts that should be
parallel. Decide which ones are wrong. Correct the mistakes.
1. My boss will assign neither you and I.
2. Andy is not only rich but also generous.
3. I need to buy both this book or that book over there.
4. Renee is not only clever and hard working but friendly.
5. Whether the first left turn or the second will bring you to the bank.

Sample item
Memory exists not only in humans and animals also in some physical objects and
A B C D
machines.
You should choose option B because the correct paired conjunction to use in this
sentence is not only … but also. It should be but also.

Exercise 1
Directions: Questions 1-5 are incomplete sentences. Beneath each sentence you will see
four words or phrases, marked (A), (B), (C), and (D). Choose the word or
phrase that best completes the sentence.

1. Great quantities of water circulate either temporarily _______ in a concentrated flow of

streams and rivers.
(A) and permanent
(B) and permanently
(C) or permanent
(D) or permanently
2. Astronauts are expected to be capable of operating at peak efficiency in outer space
in both normal _______ emergency situations.
(A) nor
(B) and
(C) or
(D) but also
3. An astronomical observatory is a station—either a building _______ a group of
buildings—used for the study of the heavens.
(A) or
(B) and
(C) but also
(D) nor

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4. In commensalism, tiny plants live out their lives in the human body and derive their
food from it, but probably neither harm nor _______ the host in any way.
(A) to help
(B) helping
(C) helped
(D) help

5. Plants require both large amounts of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen _______ smaller
quantities of phosphorus, potassium and calcium.
(A) and
(B) or
(C) nor
(D) but also

Exercise 2
Directions: In questions 1-15 each sentence has four underlined words or phrases
marked (A), (B), (C), and (D). Identify the underlined word or phrase that is
incorrect.

1. The Milky Way can be seen neither in bright moonlight or amid the myriad lights of
A B C D
large cities.

2. Pinnipeds, such as sea lions and elephant seals, are both elegantly and powerful
A B
swimmers that can dive considerable depths.
C D

3. Fraternal or double-egg twins may be either of the same sex and of different sexes.
A B C D

4. Worldwide networks of seismographs enable scientists to tract natural earthquakes,

A B C
pinpointing their places of origin and determine their strength.
D

5. When pursuing its prey, a genet both elongates and to flatten its body as much as
A B C D
possible.

6. Asexual reproduction is both more primitively and simpler than sexual reproduction.
A B C D

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7. The mammal both develops a covering of hair and evolved an efficient control of
A B C D
surface blood vessels.

8. Fission occurs not only among one-celled forms of life, such as amoebas and
A B C
diatoms, but also certain multi-celled organisms.
D

9. According to the steady-state theory, the universe is not only uniform in space nor
A B C
unchanging in time.
D

10. Sick whales either drift ashore nor deliberately swim to land in a strange sort of
A B C
reaction to physical illness.
D

11. The sensation of color that an observer sees depends not only on the strong but also
A B C D
on the angle of the wave length of light.

12. Neither the Gloster Meteor , a combat plane introduced by the British, or the
A B
Messerschmidt 262, a German jet fighter, had much of a war record.
C D

13. A person’s personality is shaped not only by heredity but also from environment.
A B C D

14. Certain plants have developed ways of attracting insect allies that either aid in
A B
pollination or they destroy other insects injurious to these plants.
C D

15. The environment includes not only the conditions of the soil and the amount of
A
moisture also the plants and animals that live in the same area.
B C D

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 Review

Review 1
Directions: Questions 1-5 are incomplete sentences. Beneath each sentence you will see
four words or phrases, marked (A), (B), (C), and (D). Choose the word or
phrase that best completes the sentence.

1. When World War I broke out in 1914, the chief powers of Europe formed two _______
groups: The Triple Alliance and The Triple Entente.
(A) to oppose
(B) opposing
(C) that oppose
(D) opposed

2. A truce may be called to allow each side to remove the wounded from the battlefield,
______ the dead, exchange prisoners or observe a religious holiday.
(A) bury
(B) to bury
(C) burying
(D) buried

3. A seaport and industrial center, Tripoli ______ on Lebanon’s northwest coast at the
eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.
(A) it lies
(B) lies
(C) lying
(D) it lying

4. The moist, mountainous areas of Tripura, a small, mainly agricultural state in

northern India, _______ a rich cover of evergreen forest.
(A) they have
(B) has
(C) it has
(D) have

5. Pierre Elliot Trudeau, a prime minister of Canada, made attempts to strengthen

Canada’s independence in world affairs and _______ Canada’s relations with China
and the Soviet Union.
(A) expanding
(B) expand
(C) expands
(D) expansion

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Review 2
Directions: In questions 1-15 each sentence has four underlined words or phrases
marked (A), (B), (C), and (D). Identify the underlined word or phrase that is
incorrect.

1. In some cases, the property in a trust fund is taxed the least heavily than the property
A B
owned without such an arrangement.
C D

2. Because trona dissolves easy in water, it is found on the earth’s surface in solid
A B C D
form in dry regions.

3. The term tropical fish is applied particularly to small, colored brightly varieties that
A B
breed very rapidly and are popular for home aquariums.
C D

4. When a violently earthquake shook the Tokyo-Yokohama area in 1923, buildings

A B C
collapsed and fires broke out in many places in Tokyo.
D

5. The sun’s rays that shine almost straight down at noon produce the highest
A B C
temperatures than slanted rays.
D

6. Tropicbirds, a species of sea birds found in tropical regions, eat fish, which it catch by
A B C
diving into the water from the air.
D

7. The Trojans farmed, bred and raised horses, herded sheep and produce woolen
A B C D
goods.

8. Triumph, a procession in ancient Rome, was the higher honor given to a victorious
A B C D
general.

9. In a moated-island exhibit, zoo animals are gathered on an “island” surrounded by

A B
a ditch, either dry nor water-filled.
C D

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10. Many of the animals living in a tropical forest spend its lives in the trees and never
A B C D
descend to the ground.

11. Lady Diana Spencer’s father, the Eighth Earl Spencer, was an equerry, a household
A B C
office, to King George VI.
D

12. The bandilor top, a child’s toy, both unwinds itself while going up an incline or
A B C
rewinds as it comes down.
D

13. Gerontology is the study of aging, not only human beings but also in other living
A B C
creatures and in such nonliving substances as crystals.
D

14. The Galapagos tortoise ranks as one of the largest tortoises, measuring up to about
A B C
1.5 meters long and weighs up to about 250 kilograms.
D

15. Truck manufacturers either produce spare parts themselves and buy them from
A B C
specialist companies.
D

SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES

Supplementary Exercise 1
Directions: Questions 1-5 are incomplete sentences. Beneath each sentence you will see
four words or phrases, marked (A), (B), (C), and (D). Choose the word or
phrase that best completes the sentence.

1. Many social changes have both beneficial _______ undesirable consequences.

(A) or
(B) and
(C) but also
(D) as well as

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Unit 11–Parallel Structures
2. The American Water Spaniel is a sturdy, muscular dog, _______ about 11 to 20 kg.
(A) weighing
(B) weighed
(C) weighs
(D) to weigh
3. A spider monkey sometimes _______ by all four limbs with its tail grasping a branch.
(A) hang
(B) it hangs
(C) hanging
(D) hangs
4. Soft solders, _______ metal alloys to join metal surfaces together, include various
alloys consisting of tin and lead.
(A) the most widely used
(B) most widely used
(C) the more widely used
(D) more widely used
5. The Galapagos Islands _______ about 7,800 square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean.
(A) they cover
(B) cover
(C) that cover
(D) covers

Supplementary Exercise 2
Directions: In questions 1-15 each sentence has four underlined words or phrases
marked (A), (B), (C), and (D). Identify the underlined word or phrase that is
incorrect.

1. People bake, grill or frying tripe, a meat that comes from the stomach walls of cattle.
A B C D

2. In 1926 Ernest Bevin, a British labor leader, helped organize a general strike, which
A B C
paralyzed practically England for ten days.
D

3. The harpy eagle raises one eaglet at a time and feeds it for near a year after it
A B C
is hatched.
D

4. Songs are the older musical form and are found in all cultures.
A B C D

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5. Ecuador, one of the smallest countries in South America, it lies on the west coast of
A B C
the continent between Colombia and Peru.
D

6. Edward  is known as the English Justinian because of their fame as a lawyer.

A B C D

7. When someone shouts, he or she produces sound waves that travels through the air in
A B C
all directions.
D

8. In the United Kingdom, the legal profession has traditional been divided between
A B C D
solicitors and barristers.

9. The elephant is the only animal that has a nose in the form of a trunk which they
A B C D
uses as a hand.

10. Sphalerite, consisted of zinc and sulphur, is the most important zinc ore.
A B C D

11. Original, Sorbonne, a world-famous college in Paris, was a college of theology.

A B C D

12. After leaving school, Leon Blum, a French political leader, practiced law and wins a
A B C
reputation as a literary critic.
D

13. The electric eel is a long, narrow fish that can produce a strongly electric discharge.
A B C D

14. Earthworm is the name given to many kinds of common worms finding in moist soil
A B C
throughout the world.
D

15. There is about 5,000 kinds of echinoderms, the general name of certain
A B C D
spiny-skinned sea animals.

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