Improve Your Writing by Checking These Parallelisms

During your OET classes, you will learn that balance is an important aspect of your writing. Parallelism helps establish balance in sentences. Parallelism makes your writing more effective and makes it easier for your readers to understand what you are saying.

Lack of parallelism 

Noticing errors in your sentences is easier when you hear it for yourself. Be cautious in writing parallel sentences because it can be tricky. To know how to use parallelism in your paper, let us look at sentences that lack parallelism.

Parallelism in verb forms

In writing verb forms, it is crucial to keep the structure of verbs in a sentence uniform. When you write verbs in a simple degree of comparison, then you must continue to write it in that manner. Practice this when writing for your classes at your OET training center.

WRONG: Danish went to the mountains to hike, to swim and bicycle. 

RIGHT: Danish went to the mountains to hike, to swim, and to ride her bicycle.

RIGHT: Danish went to the mountains to hike, swim, and ride her bicycle.

WRONG: The store owner asked his crew to write a report quickly, accurately, and in a thorough manner.

RIGHT: The store owner asked his crew to write a report quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.

Parallelism in noun and verbs

When enumerating nouns, figure out what structure you want to use and stick with it.

WRONG: For our family breakfast, we like eggs and to fry sausages.

RIGHT: For our family breakfast, we like to boil eggs and to fry sausages.

RIGHT: For our family breakfast, we like boiled eggs and fried sausages.

Parallelism in clauses

If your sentences start with clauses, then continue to write clauses. Changing the voice in the middle of your sentence will destroy the balance.

WRONG: My mother told us that we should get a lot of sleep that we should not overeat and to drink milk before we sleep. 

RIGHT: My mother told us that we should get a lot of sleep, that we should not overeat and that we should drink milk before we sleep. 

RIGHT: My mother told us that we should get a lot of sleep, not overeat, and drink milk before we sleep. 

When keeping the balance in your sentences, the main goal is to make everything the same. Parallelism is the key to a better grade in your writing tests. Learn how to avoid a lack of parallelism by enrolling in the best OET classes, and you will be guaranteed a high grade. 

For more tips, hacks, and techniques that you may use in your tests and lessons, check out our blog!

REFERENCES:

“Examples of Parallelism.” Your Dictionary. Accessed on October 24, 2019. Accessed from https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-parallelism.html

“Parallel Structure.” Purdue University. Accessed on October 24, 2019. Accessed from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/parallel_structure.html

“Parallelism.” Grammarly Blog. Accessed on October 24, 2019. Accessed from https://www.grammarly.com/blog/parallelism/