grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

, parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or

clause In language, a clause is a Constituent (linguistics), constituent or Phrase (grammar), phrase that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic Predicate (grammar), predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject (grammar), ...

s that have the same grammatical structure. The application of parallelism affects readability and may make texts easier to

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management * Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...

. Parallelism may be accompanied by other figures of speech such as

antithesis Antithesis (: antitheses; Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introd ...

, anaphora,

asyndeton Asyndeton (, ; from the , sometimes called asyndetism) is a literary scheme in which one or several grammatical conjunction, conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of related clauses. Examples include ''veni, vidi, vici'' and its Engl ...

, climax, epistrophe, and symploce."Rhetorical Figures in Sound: Parallelism"
''American Rhetoric''

from the original on 15 January 2018.

Examples

Compare the following examples: All of the above examples are grammatically correct, even if they lack parallelism: "cooking", "jogging", and "to read" are all grammatically valid conclusions to "She likes", for instance. The first nonparallel example has a mix of

gerund In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ger) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, it is one that functions as a noun. The name is derived from Late Latin ''gerundium,'' meaning "which is ...

s and

infinitive Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all ...

s. To make it parallel, the sentence can be rewritten with all gerunds or all infinitives. The second example pairs a gerund with a regular noun. Parallelism can be achieved by converting both terms to gerunds or to infinitives. The final phrase of the third example does not include a definite location, such as "across ''the yard''" or "over ''the fence''"; rewriting to add one completes the sentence's parallelism.

In rhetoric

Parallelism is often used as a

rhetorical device In rhetoric, a rhetorical device, persuasive device, or stylistic device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading them towards considering a topic from a perspective, ...

. Examples: *"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." —

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, House of Commons, 22 October 1945"Vice of Capitalism"
'' International Churchill Society''. Retrieved 15 January 2018.

References

{{reflist

External links

Faulty Parallelism
Nipissing University Grammar Rhetoric

Examples

In rhetoric

See also

References

External links