13. nonparallel parts Key Concepts 13a. Faulty parallelism… Faulty parallelism occurs when equal grammatical structures are not used to express equal or related ideas. Faulty parallelism can involve words, phrases, and clauses in series as well as in comparisons. 1. Correct a sentence containing faulty parallelism by rewriting it so that each parallel idea is expressed in the same grammatical structure. Nonparallel: Museums, theaters, and listening to live music make Philadelphia an exciting destination. Corrected: Museums, theaters, and live music make Philadelphia an exciting destination. Nonparallel: We rowed past the boathouse, under the bridge, and the boat crossed the finish line. Corrected: We rowed past the boathouse, under the bridge, and through the finish line. Nonparallel: My voice teacher says that I have a very strong voice, but I sing off key. When you write, check every series of ideas for parallelism. If you write a description using a series of one-word adjectives, for example, make sure the series does not include a prepositional phrase instead of a suitable one-word adjective. Coordinating conjunctions such as and, but, and or often connect items in a series. When you proofread your work, use them as a signal to check the items they connect for parallelism. 2. Do not write a comparison that unnecessarily links different grammatical structures, such as a phrase with a clause, a phrase with another type of phrase, or a phrase with another structure altogether. Nonparallel: I prefer concerts to visiting museums. Corrected: I prefer concerts to museums. Nonparallel: I went to Philadelphia because of its baseball team rather than because it is historic. Corrected: I went to Philadelphia because of its baseball team rather than for its history. Nonparallel: I enjoy walking in Fairmount Park as much as rowing on the Schuylkill thrills James. Corrected: I enjoy walking in Fairmount Park as much as James enjoys rowing on the Schuylkill. 13b. Faulty coordination… Use and or another coordinating conjunction only to connect related ideas of equal importance. Correct: I will go, and Mickey will stay Faulty Coordination: Philadelphia is both a city and a county, and the Schuylkill River runs through it. Downtown Philadelphia is called Center City, and Camden, New Jersey, is across the Delaware River from the city. The Liberty Bell is in a glass enclosure, and the bell is made of cast iron. Stringy Sentence: The proctor called the roll and told us we would be on our honor, and then he wrote the examination questions on the board, and he left the room, and he left the room, and he did not return until it was time to collect our papers. Revise sentences with faulty coordination by putting unrelated ideas into separate sentences or by putting a less important or subordinate idea into a subordinate clause or a phrase. First, if the independent clauses joined by and are not closely related, separate them and drop the coordinating conjunction. Faulty Coordination: Philadelphia is both a city and a county, and the Schuylkill River runs through it. Corrected: Philadelphia is both a city and a county. The Schuylkill River runs through it. A second method of correcting faulty coordination is to change an independent clause that is less important into a subordinate clause. Faulty Coordination: Downtown Philadelphia is called Center City, and Camden, New Jersey, is across the Delaware River from the city. Corrected: Downtown Philadelphia, which is across the Delaware River from Camden, New Jersey, is called Center City. A third method involves reducing an unimportant idea to a phrase - that is, changing the compound sentence into a simple sentence. A clause that can be reduced to a phrase will often begin with a pronoun and linking verb, such as he is or it was. In the following example, the second clause has been turned into an appositive phrase. Faulty Coordination: The Liberty Bell is in a glass enclosure, and the bell is made of cast iron. Corrected: The Liberty Bell, a cast-iron bell, is in a glass enclosure. 13c. Faulty predicate noun/adjective… A linking verb generally performs an “equals” function in a sentence. The subject is equated to either an noun or adjective in most cases. Predicate Nominative: I am a high school student. I = a high school student Predicate Adjective: I am quite exhausted. I = quite exhausted Noun Clause: My concern is that I may not finish. My concern = that I may not finish Participle (verb turned into adjective): Lacy’s heart was broken. Lacy’s heart = broken Prepositional Phrase: The best time is in the rain. The best time = in the rain 1. When linking the subject to a predicate, make sure the predicate plays the role of either noun, adjective, or preposition. 2. Independent clauses are neither noun nor adjective, and should not be linked with a subject. Incorrect: The conflict was some people are angry about taxes. Corrected: The conflict was from anger about taxes. Corrected: The conflict was that some people are angry about taxes. All material on this page borrowed for education use only from Writing and Grammar: Communication in Action: Ruby Level. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 2001.

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NOUN

NOUN

GERUND PHRASE

NOUN

NOUN

NOUN

PREPOSITIONAL PH

PREPOSITIONAL PH

PREPOSITIONAL PH

PREPOSITIONAL PH

PREPOSITIONAL PH

INDEPENDENT CL

INDEPENDENT CL

NOUN CLAUSE

NOUN

NOUN

NOUN

GERUND PHRASE

PREPOSITIONAL PH

ADVERB CLAUSE

PREPOSITIONAL PH

PREPOSITIONAL PH

GERUND PHRASE AS D.O.

GERUND PHRASE AS SUBJECT

GERUND PHRASE AS D.O.

GERUND PHRASE AS D.O.

INDEPENDENT CLAUSE

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

NOUN CLAUSE