Most of the essays I’ve corrected so far contain errors of parallelism. Let me explain this concept in detail.

Parallelism refers to keeping the words/ clauses/ phrases similar in a grammatical construction. The idea is to balance a NOUN with a NOUN, a VERB with a VERB, an ADJECTIVE with an ADJECTIVE. Similarly, balance an ADJECTIVE + NOUN with an ADJECTIVE + NOUN. For instance:

Incorrect: I love playing guitar (verb+noun) and books (noun).

Correct: I love playing guitar (verb+noun) and reading books (verb+noun).

Correct: I love guitar (noun) and books (noun).

A student wrote in one of the essays:

Incorrect: This is mostly attributed to lack of planning (adjective+noun), technology (noun), and poor governance (adjective+noun).

Clearly, the above sentence is not balanced. Let me offer a correct version.

Correct: This is mostly attributed to lack of planning (adjective+noun), advanced technology (adjective+noun), and poor governance (adjective+noun).

These rules are also applicable on tenses. For instance:

Incorrect: She came (past tense) home, took (past tense) a shower and will (future tense) go to the party.

Correct: She came (past tense) home, took (past tense) a shower and went (future tense) to the party.

Incorrect: Humans pollute animal habitats, poisoning rivers with toxic wastes and increasing the concentration of harmful gases in the Earth`s atmosphere. 

Correct: Humans pollute animal habitats, poison rivers with toxic waste and increase the concentration of harmful gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Incorrect: Adding negative points to driver’s license, filing charge sheets against people frequently traffic rules violating, and temporary cancellation of driver’s license would be a great solution. (Adding, Filing and Temporary are not parallel.)

Correct: Adding negative points to driver’s license, filing charge sheets against people frequently traffic rules violating, and canceling driver’s license temporarily would be a great solution. (Adding, Filing and Cancelling are parallel.)

Incorrect: His social interaction with other people is less, consequently reducing his socializing skills that may lead to isolation (Noun) and be distant (Adjective) distance from others.

Correct: His social interaction with other people is less, consequently reducing his socializing skills that may lead to isolation (Noun) and distance (Noun) from others.

Incorrect: Many people are addicted to various bad habits such as smoking (Verb), alcohol  (noun) and recreational-drugs (noun) which not only cause various diseases but also make them financially weak.

Correct: Many people are addicted to various bad habits such as smoking tobacco (verb+noun), drinking alcohol (verb+noun) and consuming recreational-drugs (verb+noun) which not only cause various diseases but also make them financially weak.

I’m sure these sentences are enough to explain the concept. Ask questions in the comments box below.

Please feel free to ask any doubts in the comments box below.

Are you’re looking for help in writing a powerful Statement of Purpose? Contact us NOW!

Follow this blog and like our Facebook page to learn exciting new essays. Please share your answer to this topic in the comments box below. You can contact me HERE.