science

Parallelism (grammar)

Parallelism (grammar) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Parallelism (grammar) rather than just read about it. In short: In grammar, parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. The application of parallelism affects readability and may make texts easier to process or comprehend.

Key takeaways

Parallelism (grammar) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Parallelism (grammar) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Parallelism (grammar) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In grammar, parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. The application of parallelism affects readability and may make texts easier to process or comprehend. Parallelism may be accompanied by other figures of speech such as antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrophe, and symploce.

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 gerunds and infinitives. 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. 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, House of Commons, 22 October 1945. The use of anaphora (repetition at the beginning of successive clauses) for Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up...; I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia...; I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi..." — Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream" speech, 28 August 1963.

See also Foregrounding Prosody (linguistics) Repetition (rhetorical device)

References

Further reading Faulty Parallelism, Nipissing University

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Parallelism (grammar)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Parallelism (grammar) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Parallelism (grammar) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Parallelism (grammar) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Parallelism (grammar)

In research: Parallelism (grammar) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Parallelism (grammar) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Parallelism (grammar) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Grammar, Rhetoric, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Parallelism (grammar) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Parallelism (grammar) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Parallelism (grammar) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Parallelism (grammar) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Parallelism (grammar) in simple terms?

Why does Parallelism (grammar) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Parallelism (grammar)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Parallelism (grammar).