Parallelism

&
Redundancy
Parallelism

Parallelism in grammar is defined as two or more phrases or clauses

in a sentence that have the same grammatical structure.

A sentence with parallel construction makes your writing effective,

classy, and certain to impress anyone who reads your stuff.
Parallelism

Example 1:
Olympic athletes usually like practicing, competing, and to eat ice
cream sandwiches.

In this sentence, practicing and competing are gerund (verbs

functioning as nouns) and “to eat” is an infinitive.
Parallelism

It is better to reconstruct the sentence above as follows:

Olympic athletes usually like practicing, competing, and eating ice
cream sandwiches.
Or
Olympic athletes usually like to practice, compete, and eat ice
cream sandwiches.
Parallelism

Example 2:
For dinner we like lamb chops and to fry brussel sprouts.

Lamb chops is a noun. Brussel sprouts is a noun too, but to fry is a

verb.
Parallelism

It is better to reconstruct the sentence above as follows:

For dinner we like lamb chops and brussel sprouts.

or
For dinner we like to grill lamb chops and fry brussel sprouts.
Parallelism

Example 3:
Public transit such as buses or a train can help reduce air pollution.

Multiple buses, one train?

It is better to reconstruct the sentence above as follows:
Public transit such as buses or trains can help reduce air pollution.
Exercises
1. When Delores realized that her father had made lima beans and rice for
dinner, she __________, claimed to feel nauseous, and excused herself from the
table. The bag of stale popcorn in her room would tide her over until
breakfast.
A. clutched her stomach
B. was clutching her stomach
C. did clutch her stomach

2. Not only did Hank despise the way June chewed with her mouth open,
_________ finding her wet towels all over the bathroom floor.
A. but also disliked
B. but also disliking
C. but he also disliked
Exercises
3. To protect her delicate hands, Fran will not rake the yard, do the dishes,
or __________.
A. refuses to scrub the bathtub
B. won't scrub the bathtub
C. scrub the bathtub 2

4. When Diane takes her beagle for a walk, Santana enjoys sniffing for edible
garbage, __________, and lunging at squirrels.
A. howls at bicyclists
B. howling at bicyclists
C. she howls at bicyclists
Exercises
5. In preparation for her run, Alicia __________, applied sunscreen, and inserted
her earbuds.
A. tightened her shoelaces
B. was tightening her shoelaces
C. did tighten her shoelaces

6. We searched the car trunk, __________, and the top of the refrigerator, but we
could not find the box of cornflakes that we do remember buying.
A. looked on the pantry shelves
B. on the pantry shelves
C. the pantry shelves
Exercises
7. In Professor Curall's office, Ruben feigned the flu. He hoped to be excused
from class, get an extension on his paper, and __________.
A. spend the afternoon playing tennis with his friends
B. to spend the afternoon playing tennis with his friends
C. then to spend the afternoon playing tennis with his friends

8. Carlos not only missed his one-year anniversary with Adrianna __________.
A. but he also forgot his mother's birthday
B. but also forgot his mother's birthday
C. but also forgetting his mother's birthday
Exercises
9. With the humans out of the house, Skeeter had to decide either to shred a
roll of toilet paper or __________.
A. chew another hole in the sofa arm
B. chewing another hole in the sofa arm
C. if he wanted to chew another hole in the sofa arm

10. Neither __________ nor the ineffective air conditioner rattling in the window
will deter Tiffany from loving the freedom of her first apartment.
A. when the inconsiderate neighbors played loud music
B. the inconsiderate neighbors playing loud music
C. playing loud music by the inconsiderate neighbors
Redundancy

Redundancy is when you use more words than necessary to express

something, especially words and/or phrases in the same sentence
that mean the same thing. Many writers are guilty of violating this
rule at times, especially in their daily conversations.
Redundancy

Here are some common examples

of redundant phrases:
“small in size” or “large in size” “smiled happily”
“true facts” “evolve over time”
“basic fundamentals” “consensus of opinion”
“past history”
Redundancy

Be Careful of Overusing Adverbs

“shouted loudly”
“raced hurriedly”
“whispered softly”
“deliberated thoughtfully”
“finished completely”
“jumped quickly”
Redundancy

Be Careful of Overusing Adverbs

“shouted loudly”
“raced hurriedly”
“whispered softly”
“deliberated thoughtfully”
“finished completely”
“jumped quickly”
Exercises
Rewrite the following sentences so that they are no
longer redundant.
1. The end result of her stubbornness was that she didn’t
get dessert.
2. The woman who works in the cafeteria is very polite
and courteous.
3. My personal opinion is that the walls should be
painted blue.
4. We assembled together in the kitchen.
5. When I joined the gym, I received a complimentary
personal training session for free.
Exercises
6. Jasper’s twin sisters are exactly identical.
7. Bob really liked those red sneakers, but they were too
small in size.
8. My mom cut the pizza into four quarters.
9. In the modern world of today, we can easily
communicate with people around the globe.
10. After much thought and consideration, Frances de-
cided to major in astronomy.