After a couple of entries expressing my admiration of Rowan Atkinson's talents, we will shift back to a little grammar, just to spice up things a little bit.
Parallel Structure -- Beginner Level
Question! Is the following sentence correct?
Parallel structure is a big problem in written English and spoken English.
The answer is "Yes". How about this one?
Parallel structure is a big problem in written English and in spoken English.
The answer is still "Yes".
And this is parallel structure, in simple words, it is the balancing of words.
Take a look at the following example.
Mary loves to swim, to paint and draw.
Does it look balanced to you?
Your answer should be "No", because it should be:
Mary loves to swim, to paint and to draw.
Or you can write like this:
Mary loves to swim, paint and draw.
Or even this:
Mary loves swimming , painting and drawing.
How about a little change this time:
Jacko hates girls who spend money on branded good, wasting time in shopping malls all day, and who wear heavy make-up.
A couple of ways to make it right:
- Jacko hates girls who spend money on branded good, waste time in shopping malls all day, and wear heavy make-up.
- Jacko hates girls who spend money on branded good, who waste time in shopping malls all day, and who wear heavy make-up.
Do read the link below for more examples.
Today, I found a signage said' Please no smoking, drinking and eating.'
ReplyDeleteis it a parallel structure ?
Is it necesscary to change it as " Please no smoking, no drinking and no eating.'
Either one will do, this is because you can take "smoking" as one unit, or "no smoking" as one unit.
ReplyDelete