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Parallel structure

Keep items in a list or a comparison in the same grammatical form so the sentence stays balanced.

Standard English ConventionsReading and Writing
Practice parallel structure free

What the SAT actually asks

You make the parts of a list, a pair, or a comparison match in grammatical form. If two items in a series are -ing verbs, the third must be too. If a sentence compares one thing to another, the two sides must be the same kind of thing, so a person is compared to a person and a method to a method. Correlative pairs such as not only and but also, or either and or, require the same structure to follow each half of the pair.

Parallelism questions usually appear about 1 time among the 54 reading and writing questions, and some tests may include more.

Where students lose points

How to attack these questions

  1. 1Stack the items in the list vertically in your head and check that each one starts with the same kind of word.
  2. 2For comparisons, name the two things being compared and confirm they belong to the same category.
  3. 3For correlative pairs, cover everything except the words after each half and check that the two match.

Example questions

Written for this skill, with the answer explained. 54 more are in the app.

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Parallel structure
Real question

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The apprentice blacksmith spent the summer learning to shape iron, to temper steel, and ______.

Easier

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The internship program is designed to strengthen writing, improve research skills, and ______ professional networking.

  • A) fostering
  • B) to foster
  • C) the fostering of
  • D) foster ✓

Why: After "designed to," the series runs on base verbs sharing that one "to," "strengthen writing" and "improve research skills," so the third item must be foster. Writing to foster puts "to" back in front of the third verb only, which breaks the pattern set by "improve." Writing fostering switches to a gerund. Writing the fostering of switches to a noun phrase, so a thing replaces the action the other two items name.

Medium

Peat cores from the Solway bog record two kinds of information at once. A single centimeter can hold evidence of both the pollen falling on the bog that decade and ______ drifting in from fires fifty kilometers away, which is why the cores are read for climate and for land use together.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  • A) when charcoal was
  • B) the charcoal ✓
  • C) charcoal was
  • D) that the charcoal

Why: "Both ... and" joins "the pollen falling on the bog" to a second noun phrase of the same shape, so "the charcoal" is correct. "Charcoal was" and "when charcoal was" both build clauses around the participle, and "that the charcoal" inserts a conjunction that has nothing to attach to; none of the three matches the noun phrase after "both." Charcoal was is a finite verb, which turns the second half of the pair into a clause. When charcoal was is a subordinate clause, which cannot pair with the noun phrase after "both". That the charcoal is inserts a second "that," which cannot follow "and" in a pairing of noun phrases.

Harder

The restoration plan calls for widening the floodplain, planting native willows along the banks, and ______ the concrete channel that has carried the stream since 1958.

  • A) removing ✓
  • B) the removal of
  • C) to remove
  • D) having removed

Why: 'calls for' governs a list of three items, so the third has to be a gerund phrase to match 'widening the floodplain' and 'planting native willows along the banks.' 'to remove' switches to an infinitive and breaks that pattern. 'the removal of' switches to a noun phrase, mixing a noun into a list of gerunds. 'having removed' is a perfect gerund, which adds an aspect the first two items lack and places the removal before the plan that calls for it.

Questions students ask

What is parallel structure?

It means that items serving the same grammatical role in a sentence take the same form. In a list, all items should be nouns, or all -ing verbs, or all infinitives. Mixing forms is what the SAT flags as an error.

How do I check a comparison for parallelism?

Identify the two things on either side of the comparison word and ask whether they are the same kind of thing. Comparing a city to a city is parallel. Comparing a city to another city's population is not.

What are correlative conjunctions?

They are paired connectors such as not only with but also, either with or, neither with nor, and both with and. Whatever grammatical structure follows the first half must also follow the second half.

Drill this skill until it is automatic

Questions on parallel structure alone, with explanations on every one, and the app tracks which ones you keep missing.

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