Transcript Parts of Speech

PARELLELISM
= balance of a series of words, phrases or clauses
What is parallel structure?
Words in a series should be
the same part of speech
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Examples
The town was small, quiet and peaceful
Small/quiet/peaceful = adjectives
Ophelia enjoys taking minutes and transcribing them.
Taking minutes/transcribing them = gerund
phrases
Ophelia likes to take minutes and to transcribe them.
To take minutes/to transcribe them = infinitive
phrases
History will be kind to me; for I intend to write it.
Both are independent clauses
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Lists After a Colon
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Be sure to keep all the elements in a list in the same
form.
Not Parallel:
The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to
find word meanings, pronunciations, correct
spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.
Parallel:
The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to
find word meanings, pronunciations, correct
spellings, and irregular verbs.
Phrases must be parallel

Phrases in a series should be the same kind of
phrase
What is a phrase?
 A phrase is a group of related words without a
Subject and a Verb.
 Examples:
The sun rises in the east. (prepositional)
He plans to eat. (infinitive)
Practice
Unparallel
 The sun rises in the east and sets westernly.
Parallel
 The suns rises in the east and sets in the
west.
Unparallel
 He plans to eat and on sleeping.
Parallel
 He plans to eat and sleep. [to is understood
before sleep]
More Practice
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A verb phrase consists of various combinations of the main verb and any auxiliary verbs, plus
optional parts of speech
Examples
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Yankee batters hit the ball, ran the bases and scoring the runs.
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Yankee batters hit the ball, ran the bases and scored the runs.
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Mary saw the man through the window, was screaming for her husband and ran
outside.
Mary saw the man through the window, screamed for her husband and ran outside.
An noun phrase consists of a main noun or pronoun and is sometimes accompanied by a set of
modifiers.
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We took the ball that was red, the green bag and the black tent on our camping trip.
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We took the red ball, the green bag and the black tent on our camping trip.
Clauses versus Phrases
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Clauses have at least a subject and a verb; phrases
do not contain subjects or verbs
Main clauses can stand alone; dependent clauses
and phrases can never stand alone
Clauses in a series should be parallel
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Not Parallel:
One clerk polished the antique spoons; they were placed into the display case by
the other clerk.
Parallel:
One clerk polished the antique spoons; the other clerk placed them into the display
case.
Not Parallel:
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not
eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game.
Parallel:
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not
eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.
Parallel:
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not eat too much,
and do some warm-up exercises before the game.
Practice
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Rewrite the following to make them parallel.
My favourite armchair is lumpy, worn out and has dirty spots
everywhere.
She enjoys reading, studying the flute and also sews her own
clothes.
I would prefer to fix an old car than watching television.
She was great at swimming, canoeing and as a rock climber.
She is charming and has beauty.
As I looked down the city street, I could see the soft lights
from the restaurant windows, I could hear the mellow sounds
of nightclub bands and carefree moods of people walking
by.
Check your answers
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My favourite armchair is lumpy, worn out and covered with
dirty spots.
She enjoys reading, studying the flute and also sewing her
own clothes.
I would prefer to fix an old car than to watch television. OR I
would prefer fixing an old car than watching television.
She was great at swimming, canoeing and as a rock climbing.
She is charming and beautiful.
As I looked down the city street, I could see the soft lights from
the restaurant windows, I could hear the mellow sounds of
nightclub bands and I could sense the carefree moods of
people walking by.
Resources and Assignments
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http://wps.pearsoned.ca/ca_mbcl_bovee_buscom_
2Grammar and Usage
Exercise Zone
Basic Grammar
Parallel Structure – all exercises
Due by last class in September