Quiz 35A · Parallel Structure — The Talking Hands Series

First, the idea

When a sentence puts several items in a row — a list, an either-or, a comparison — the items are doing the same job, and the rule is simple: same job, same shape. All plain verbs, or all -ing forms, or all nouns. That matching is parallel structure.

Look at a staircase with a handrail. Under the rail stands a row of short posts that hold it up; they are called balusters. On a well-built staircase every baluster is cut to the same pattern, and your hand slides along the rail without your thinking about it. A list in a sentence is like that rail. Items doing the same job should be built to the same pattern. When one item is built differently, the reader stumbles on it, the way a hand catches on a rough spot in a rail.

Where the test checks for parallel structure: a plain list of three; the paired words — either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, both…and — which demand matched parts right after each half; and comparisons with than or as (mopping the floor takes longer than wiping the tables: an -ing form answering an -ing form).

Here is a line from the schedule taped up by the mixer. The morning shift is the crew that opens.

The morning shift preps the dough, fills the case, and brews the coffee.

Three things the crew does, in a row. Each item is built the same way: a verb, then the thing the verb acts on. Preps the dough. Fills the case. Brews the coffee. That is parallel structure, and the sentence reads smoothly.

Now the same sentence with the third item changed:

The morning shift preps the dough, fills the case, and the coffee gets brewed.

Every verb is still present tense. Nothing is misspelled. And still something is wrong, and you may feel it before you can say it. Here is the first check. Take the part the items share, the words that come before the list. Call that the stem. Say the stem with each item, one at a time:

The morning shift preps the dough. The morning shift fills the case. The morning shift the coffee gets brewed.

The third one will not come out of your mouth. That is the point of the check. The first two items hang on the stem because each is a verb waiting for its subject. The third has a subject of its own, the coffee. It is not an item at all. It is a whole sentence that slipped into the list. Call this check riding the rail: you say the stem with each item in turn, the way a hand slides along a rail, and you stop where an item will not fit.

The stem is not always just the subject. Sometimes it is a subject and a verb: The job requires lifting boxes, driving the van, and to keep records. Ride the rail: the job requires lifting… the job requires driving… the job requires to keep? The last item will not fit, and it is the one to fix.

Riding the rail catches the big mistakes. It does not catch every mistake. Here is a third version of the bakery sentence:

The morning shift preps the dough, fills the case, and gets the coffee brewed.

Ride the rail: the morning shift preps the dough, the morning shift fills the case, the morning shift gets the coffee brewed. All three come out. The sentence is grammatical, and people say sentences like it every day. Now look at the shape of each item. The first two are a verb and the thing it acts on: the crew does the prepping and the filling. The third is gets, then the coffee, then brewed: the crew has the brewing done. The meaning shifted, from doing the action to causing it to be done, and the shape shifted with it. This item passes the first check, but it is built to a different pattern.

So there are two checks, and they go in order. First, ride the rail. An item that cannot hold on to the stem is broken, and the test will ask you to fix it. Second, look at the shape of each item, the way you would look at the balusters under the rail. An item that passes the first check but is built differently is the one to match to the others. On the test, when one choice is grammatical and another is grammatical and matched, the matched one is the answer.

Matching can go either way. All doing:

The morning shift preps the dough, fills the case, and brews the coffee.

All having it done, if that is what you mean:

The morning shift gets the dough prepped, the case filled, and the coffee brewed.

Both versions are parallel. What the test will not accept is one item built to its own pattern.

And know where mistakes hide: in the last item of a long list. By the last item, the writer's ear, and the reader's, has lost track of the stem, and that is where the odd shape slips in. Check the last item hardest.

One more honest note: parallel structure isn't just a rule to obey — it's a tool writers reach for on purpose. Interlude I's Whitman poem is one long parallel list, and the matching helps him make his point. Quiz 13 will show you parallelism doing that work in speeches; your own Extended Response will do it in essays.

Worked example — thinking out loud

A line from the resume behind Marisol's Quiz 32 cover letter: Baked the overnight sets, kept the proof logs, and responsible for weekend inventory. The first check, riding the rail: Marisol baked… Marisol kept… Marisol responsible? The third item can't carry the stem. It has no verb, so it fails the first check. Now the tempting repair: and running weekend inventory. It sounds like resume language — -ing everywhere — and that's exactly why it tempts. Ride the rail again: baked… kept… running? Still off. Now the second check says why: look at the shape. The pattern is past-tense verbs, and running is built to a different pattern. The repair that passes both checks: and ran weekend inventory. Baked, kept, ran: three past-tense verbs, one pattern.

Part A · The skill by itself

1. Which version is parallel?

The delivery driver checks the list, loads the van, and the shop gets a call. The delivery driver checks the list, loading the van, and calls the shop. The delivery driver checks the list, loads the van, and calls the shop. The delivery driver checks the list, loads the van, and to call the shop.

2. Which version is parallel?

Either take the delivery yourself or you should call the driver. Either taking the delivery yourself or call the driver. Either you take the delivery yourself or calling the driver. Either take the delivery yourself or call the driver.

3. Which version is parallel?

Closing the register is quicker than to count the drawer twice. Closing the register is quicker than counting the drawer twice. To close the register is quicker than counting the drawer twice. Closing the register is quicker than you count the drawer twice.

4. Which version handles not only … but also correctly?

Marisol trains not only the bakers but also the counter staff. Marisol not only trains the bakers but also the counter staff. Marisol not only trains the bakers but also counter staff coaching. Not only Marisol trains the bakers but also the counter staff.

5. The closing sign reads: Before you leave: wipe your station, restock the flour bins, log the oven temps, and the mop goes back to the closet. Which revision of the last item makes the series parallel?

and the mop should go back to the closet and returning the mop to the closet and return the mop to the closet and the closet gets the mop back

6. Which sentence needs no revision?

Daniela is quick at the register, patient with the line, and she memorizes orders. Daniela is quick at the register, patient with the line, and to stay steady under a rush. Daniela is quick at the register, shows patience with the line, and steady under a rush. Daniela is quick at the register, patient with the line, and steady under a rush.

Part B · The skill in the wild

Mr. Okafor has posted an assistant manager opening, and Daniela is drafting her first resume for it — the same kind of document Marisol wrote for her own application back in Quiz 32. Five decision points; at each dropdown, choose the version whose items all match.

DANIELA VEGA

For the Assistant Manager posting · Okafor's Bakery

1(a. Counter lead who can not only run a fast register but also training the people behind it. / b. Counter lead who can not only run a fast register but also train the people behind it. / c. Counter lead who not only can run a fast register but also the people behind it get trained.)

EXPERIENCE — Okafor's Bakery, Counter Lead

2(a. Trained three new hires, wrote the weekend schedule, and covered open shifts. / b. Trained three new hires, wrote the weekend schedule, and covering open shifts. / c. Trained three new hires, wrote the weekend schedule, and to cover open shifts.)
3(a. Cut waiting times by greeting the line early, to prep boxes in advance, and calling orders back clearly. / b. Cut waiting times by greeting the line early, boxes were prepped in advance, and calling orders back clearly. / c. Cut waiting times by greeting the line early, prepping boxes in advance, and calling orders back clearly.)
4(a. Comfortable with the register, the pre-order book, and the delivery log. / b. Comfortable with the register, the pre-order book, and logging deliveries. / c. Comfortable with the register, the pre-order book, and to log deliveries.)

EDUCATION & GOAL

5(a. Studying for the GED at night; aiming to grow from serving the counter to run the floor. / b. Studying for the GED at night; aiming to grow from serving the counter to running the floor. / c. Studying for the GED at night; aiming to grow from serve the counter to running the floor.)

The key — and why the tempting answers tempt

Part A

1. C. Checks, loads, calls — three verbs, one rail. A breaks in the last item: after two matching verbs, the third item is a whole sentence of its own. Ride the rail to the end: the driver the shop gets a call can't carry the stem.

2. D. Either take… or call… — a command answering a command, right after each half of the pair. A tempts because both halves are grammatical on their own; the pair is what breaks. Either introduces a command, or introduces a full statement — two different patterns.

3. B. Closing… than counting… — an -ing form answering an -ing form across the than. C is easy to miss: to close… than counting mixes a to-verb with an -ing form, and it reads almost smoothly. The test often offers choices that sound nearly right.

4. A. Put the pair right before the matched parts: trains not only the bakers but also the counter staff — noun answering noun. B is the famous placement slip: not only trains promises a second verb, and but also the counter staff delivers a noun instead. The pair's position is the whole rule.

5. C. Wipe, restock, log, return — four commands, all built the same way. A tempts because it sounds more polite, but it does not fix the shape: should go is still not a command. Again the mistake is in the last item of the longest list; check the last item hardest.

6. D. Quick, patient, steady — three adjective phrases after one is. Nothing to fix. A tempts because she memorizes orders is a fine sentence, and that is why it tempts. A good sentence built to a different pattern still breaks the list.

Part B — Daniela's resume

1. b. Not only run… but also train — plain verb answering plain verb, both leaning on the same can. a tempts because -ing words sound professional on a resume, so training slips in. Ride it: who can… training? The stem won't carry it.

2. a. Trained, wrote, covered — past-tense verbs, the pattern most job bullets use. b repeats the mistake from the worked example: covering, an -ing form, in the last item, where the ear has lost track of the pattern.

3. c. Greeting, prepping, calling — the pattern here is -ing, set by by greeting, and every item after must match it. b hides a whole sentence in the middle item — boxes were prepped — where it is easy to miss. Mistakes are most common in the last item, but they can come anywhere in a list.

4. a. The register, the book, the log — three nouns, because comfortable with calls for nouns. b tempts hardest: logging deliveries is true and useful and shaped wrong. A useful phrase is still wrong if it does not match the others.

5. b. From serving to running — the two halves of from…to… need the same form, and an -ing form answers an -ing form. a breaks after to, where the sentence seems almost finished. Read the whole span aloud: from serving the counter to run the floor — the second half does not match the first. Change run to running, and the two halves match.