Parallel Constructions

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Improve the following sentences through the use of proper parallel constructions:-

[color=red]1-He wanted three things out of college :to learn a skill, to make good friends ,and to learn about life
The teacher answered:-
He wanted three things out of college: to learn a skill, to make good fiends, and learning about life.

Can I know why the teacher chosed this answer (added ing to learn)?

Simply, before I look at this answer, I answered it as the same as the example, it doesn’t need any construction correction, all are infinitives.

2

Perhaps your teacher made a mistake. I’ve found this beautiful definition of parallel structure here:

As such, I believe you’re right. The best way to check if the sentence works is to take each item out of the list and test it with the preceding part of the statement… For example, ‘Connor has a hand, an eye, and has a nose’.

So, take the first item…: ‘Connor has a hand’. That’s a perfectly valid statement.
Second? ‘Connor has an eye’. Again, fine.
Third? ‘Connor has has a nose’ (we omit the ‘and’ because it’s a conjunctive). THIS doesn’t work; therefore the sentence isn’t grammatically correct.
Hope I helped :).

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EDIT: if we apply the above logic to your teacher’s answer, we learn that this person wants…:

  • To learn a skill.
  • To make good fiends
  • Learning about life. (This DOES make sense, but the implied meaning isn’t the same as the intended meaning).
3

And why did you use “has” twice?
Shouldn’t it be?
Connor has a hand, an eye, and a nose.

4

Yeah, precisely. After I said that, I stated that the sentence doesn’t work… (“THIS doesn’t work; therefore the sentence isn’t grammatically correct.”). :slight_smile:

Sorry to be confusing ^^

5

[color=red]2. Coach Espinoza was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and a wise friend.

Isn’t this correct and doesn’t need any parallel constructions correction?
The teacher answered it:-

Coach Espinoza was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and friend.

6

… That doesn’t seem correct either. The indefinite article (‘a’) should be there in each item of the list.

7

Then the example itself is correct, isn’t it?

2. Coach Espinoza was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and a wise friend.

8

Precisely. I think you should correct your teacher on his/her mistake. Are you sure you’re not confusing the questions with the answers :P???

9

Can you please check the question yourself and see what’s going on?
A lot of questions, the teacher changed the infinitive to gerund and the gerund to infinitive. He put a mistake in the correct ones…

Select the sentence that illustrates the use of proper parallel construction.
[color=red]1-Donald Smith has wit charm and she has an extremely pleasant personality.
-Donald Smith has wit charm and a pleasing personality.

[color=red]2-In English class , Tashonda learned to read poems critically and to appreciate good prose.
-In English class , Tashonda learned to read poems critically and appreciated good prose.

[color=red]3-Raoul’s QPA is better than Ralph.
-Raoul’s QPA is better than Ralph ‘s.

[color=red]4-He wanted three things out of college :to learn a skill, to make good friends ,and to learn about life.
-He wanted three things out of college:to learn a skill, to make good friends ,and learning about life.

[color=red]5-Coach Espinoza was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and a wise friend .
-Coach Espinoza was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and friend.

[color=red]6-We found the film offensive , repulsive, and we thought it was embarrassing.
-We found the film offensive , repulsive, and embarrassing.

[color=red]7-Tom kept the store clean ,neat, and he made it conveniently arranged.
-Tom kept the store clean ,neat, and conveniently arranged.

[color=red]8-Professor Ali rewarded his students for working hard on the final project and for going beyond the call of duty .
-Professor Ali rewarded his students for their hard work on the final project and going beyond the call of duty .

[color=red]9-There is nothing I like better than finding a good trout stream, setting up a camp ,and spending a couple of days fishing.
-There is nothing I like better than finding a good trout stream, setting up a camp ,and to spend a couple of days fishing.

[color=red]10-Carlos wasted his first year at college by not studying hard and by spending too much time at parties .
-Carlos wasted his first year at college by not studying hard and spent too much time at parties.

[color=red]11-Espinoza’s style is remarkable for its dexterity, grace, and she could play any position.
-Espinoza’s style is remarkable for its dexterity, grace and efficiency.

[color=red]12-Raoul’s motivation to succeed in this program seems to be greater than his sister .
- Raoul’s motivation to succeed in this program seems to be greater than his sister’s.

10

I shall give you the correct answers now… But after this, I really need to go to bed! 4 in the morning here ^^.

  1. ii.
  2. i.
  3. (What’s QPA?) Answer is most likely ii.
  4. i.
  5. i.
  6. ii.
  7. ii.
  8. ii.
  9. i.
  10. ii. (except ‘spent’ should be ‘spending’, unless I have made an error).
  11. ii.
  12. ii.

I assume you’ve correctly pegged most of those, and I apologise if mine aren’t correct, I’m quite tired. Are you saying that your teacher has stated that the opposite ones are correct? Are you sure you’ve understood what the exercise is asking of you?

Unfortunately I can’t help you further, but I’ll read any replies tomorrow. Good luck :)!

Code x

11

What do you mean by i or ii?

[color=red]- The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately and in a detailed manner.

Can I answer it this way?
- The production manager was asked to write his report in a quick manner, an accurate manner and a detailed manner.

[color=red]- Pele was a quick, skilful and invention soccer player.
How can I answer this?
Pele was a quick, skilful and invented soccer player.

12

Sorry I had to go quickly last night. You gave 2 possible answers for each question; ‘i’ refers to the first answer, ‘ii’ refers to the second.

As for your new question

Your answer does work when we apply my method to it, but due to having the same noun throughout, we can ‘take it out’:

The production manager was asked to write his report in a quick, accurate, and detailed manner.

Your next question actually confuses me… I think it is meant to say:

Pele was a quick, skilful and inventive soccer player.

‘Invention’ and ‘invented’ aren’t adjectives (in this case at least) :).

Hope I helped :slight_smile:

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13

Thanks.
But I still don’t understand what do you mean by i the first answer.
ii the second answer?
Do you mean that the question has two possible answers?

And how does it have two answers, and we said before thery’re wrong…
The teacher has made the gerund into an infinitive…

14

Well, the exercise was to pick the correct sentence out of the two provided. For question one, you were given:

-Donald Smith has wit charm and she has an extremely pleasant personality.
-Donald Smith has wit, charm, and a pleasing personality.

You had to choose which showed good parallel construction. (In this case, it’s ‘ii’ - the second).

15

ohhhh yes, I got it… So the teacher didn’t answer them…
And they’re just two sentences and I should choose the correct one…
I thought that the first one is the original question and the second one is the teacher’s answer in which he corrects the original one…

But in No. 8
[color=red]8-Professor Ali rewarded his students for working hard on the final project and for going beyond the call of duty .
-Professor Ali rewarded his students for their hard work on the final project and going beyond the call of duty .

Why did you chose the 2nd one??
Shouldn’t it be the first one as all of them are gerunds??

16

Hello to all users of this forum.

17

Whoops! Sorry for giving you the answers then ^^. You clearly understand the fundamentals behind parallelism anyway, so I don’t think I’ve done much harm ^^.

And welcome to the forums Evexy!

18

[color=red]- The city map lists streets , parks , and what the tourists like to see.

The city maps lists streets, parks, and places.

[color=red]- Computer languages are either classified as a high level or low level
Computers languages are classified as either high or low level.

Is this correct?

19

Both sound correct to me… I suppose you’d consider ‘The city map lists streets, parks, and what the tourists like to see’ the furthest away from parallel construction. Your second sentence makes perfect use of parallelism.

20

what the tourists like to see - can be summed up as ‘tourist attractions’. Using this phrase may be more helpful than ‘places’.