Activity: Parallel Sentences

According to the dictionary, "consistency" means "conformity in the application of something". This meaning aligns perfectly with how we will think of it in terms of writing. For our purposes, the "something" will be our use of language. Specifically, we will talk about consistency in three ways that it applies to writing: parallel sentence construction, verb tense, and point of view (pronouns). Consistency is important in good writing because it helps to make the job of the reader easy. To better understand these ideas, read about parallelism in the following section, and get some practice by doing the activity. When you are done, compare your answers to the answer key.

Correcting Non-Parallel Sentences Activity

Read the following groups of sentences to find the item in the pair or series that is not parallel with the construction of the other items in the sentence. After you find the non-parallel item,  rewrite the sentence to create parallelism and a sense of balance to the sentence.

  1. My dog loves to chase squirrels, take long naps, and chewing on her sister's face.
  2. Paul plans to become an office administrator, a sales associate, or go into accounting.
  3. The hardware store has huge sections devoted to electrical equipment, plumbing supplies, and tools needed for carpentry.
  4. My music collection is divided into party music, hanging-out music, and music I can study to.
  5. A consumer group rates my motorcycle as noisy, expensive, and not having much safety.
  6. Between receiving a call from her mother and the fact that she left her backpack at home, Mia was running really late.