What the writer likely intended to compare were two groups of people: “These unprecedented times are affecting not only those of us here in the United States but also people around the world.” This writer has illogically used the correlative conjunction not only X but also Y, pairing a group of people (“those of us here in the United States”) with a verb phrase (“are clearly having a global impact”).

These unprecedented times are affecting not only those of us here in the United States but alsoare clearly having a global impact.

Ĭonsider this sentence that lacks parallel structure: They are either X or Y, neither X nor Y, both X and Y, not X but Y, and not only X but Y. The correlative conjunctions are pairs of words that hold together two concepts that should be parallel both grammatically and logically. Parallelism with Correlative Conjunctions Now the noun clause “what cases she read” is being coordinated with the noun phrase “her sources,” and the sentence is neither as easy to understand nor as memorable as it would be if each item in the pair were parallel with the other.

When he saw the results of her work, he asked to see what cases she had read and her sources.

Note that the two coordinated parts-“what cases she had read” and “what sources she had consulted”-are parallel that is, they are both noun clauses functioning as objects of the infinitive “to see.” Had the sentence been poorly written (i.e., contained an error in parallelism), it might have looked like this:

When he saw the results of her work, he asked to see what cases she had read and what sources she had consulted.

Here is a sentence that uses the conjunction and to coordinate two thoughts, highlighted here with italics: That is, the items (words, phrases, or clauses) connected by those conjunctions-whether or not we use bullets-should have the same logical and grammatical structure. The coordinating conjunctions ( and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet) signal the need for parallel structure.

(We have another article on punctuation and formatting for lists with bullets and numbers, also known as vertical lists.) Parallelism with Coordinating Conjunctions Often we use bullets or numbers to draw attention to lists, but coordinated parts of a sentence, clause, or phrase should be parallel even when there are no bullets or numbers. Parallelism Is Important Even without Bullets who had lived in the Houston area for at least ten years.Ĭybil’s speech contained at least three clichés:.who had annual income in excess of $60,000,.who had completed at least one year of education beyond high school,.The press noted repeatedly that the jury consisted solely of people

following directions and remembering information.ĭependent clauses (in this example, relative clauses):.speaking or putting together phrases and sentences.identifying shapes, colors, and familiar objects.

Parallel structure example