Grammar HighlightsEnglish 12R
Parallel Structure
Exercise 1
IMPROVE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES BY PUTTING PARALLEL IDEAS INTO THE SAME GRAMMATICAL FORM. CORRECT ANY ERRORS IN THE PLACE MENT OF CORRELATIVES AND IN THE OMISSION OF A NECESSARY ARTICLE, PREPOSITION, OR PRONOUN.
- Its large size, simple structure, and how readily available it is, make the common cockroach convenient to study.
- Cockroaches have smooth leathery skin, long thin antennae, and they have a body that is think and flat.
- They are not only found in urban areas but tropical.
- The Oriental cockroach is short-winged, while cockroaches from America have full wings.
- North America boasts about sixty species, but only two in Great Britain.
- Cockroaches may be dark brown, pale brown, or of a green color that is delicate.
- Cockroach eggs are laid in small cases, carried on the female body, and then they deposit them in hidden crevices.
- A typical cockroach lives as a nymph for about a year, and as an adult its life lasts about half a year.
- The odors that attract cockroaches are sweet, but they emit disagreeable odors.
- Cockroaches are omnivorous, but they especially like sweet foods and foods that are starchy.
- What a cockroach soils is far more than it consumes.
- By day the average cockroach is quite lazy, but busily energetic describes how it is by night.
- We might not only view the cockroach with disgust but also with interest.
- The cockroach both is the most primitive living winged insect and the most ancient fossil insect.
- We have as much to learn from the cockroach’s evolution as there is to gain from extinguishing it.
Exercise 2
CORRECT THE PARALLELSIM IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES BY INSERTING THE WORDS THAT HAVE BEEN OMITTED.
- My experience was not half so exciting as the people who didn’t get home until dawn.
- As the time passed, she was torn between her love for her parents and her husband.
- This author’s style is not much different from other writers of this time.
- Highway signs in Europe employ symbols much more than in the United States.
- Compare our grades for this quarter with last quarter.
- Statistics prove that prices this year are lower than last year.
- You will find the information in the second edition more up-to-date than the first edition.
- Little children are more trouble in the boat than on the beach.
- The trail on the north side of the mountain is steeper than the south side.
- The amount of money his wife received in the will was much smaller than the children.
- The classrooms on the second floor are always cleaner than the first floor.
- The inexpensive overcoat which I bought last week looks exactly like more expensive stores.
- Cats can catch rabbits as easily as dogs.
- The damage done by this year’s forest fires was greater than last year’s.
- The reaction of the students to the new regulations was more violent than the faculty.
Exercise 3
THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES CONTAIN FAULTY PARALLELISM. REPHRASE THE SENTENCES SO THAT THE PARALLELISM WILL BE CORRECTLY AND LOGICALLY EXPRESSED.
- One of the accident victims suffered a broken arm, several broken ribs, and one of her lungs was punctured.
- She was not only industrious but she could be depended on.
- As we were leaving the harbor, the radio weather report predicted gale-force winds, heavy rain, and that tides would be abnormally high.
- A cloudy day is better for a game than sunshine.
- She spoke about her experiences in Australia and several predictions about the country’s future.
- To the unthinking person, war may be a romantic adventure, but a foolish and dirty business is the way the wise person regards it.
- The unexpected cooperation of China was a greater surprise to Russia than the United States.
- The skipper had a harsh voice, a weather-beaten face, and as very stocky in build.
- We were not sure that our request for a raise was fair or it would be granted.
- The speech of cultivated Britishers is not so different as it used to be from Americans.
- The public’s attention had been centered on the need for more teachers, adequate classrooms, and there isn’t enough new equipment.
- This was a much harder assignment for me than Luis.
- The ambassador did not know whether the President had sent for him or the Secretary of State.
- Her friends not only were shocked by her failure but they felt a great disappointment.
- The players were annoyed not so much by the decisions of the officials as the hostile crowd.
- The company announced a bonus for all five-year employees and that deserving new employees would be given additional benefits.
- The headmaster insisted that all of us return by ten o’clock and the housemasters must check in.
- High school programs have been accused of being too closely tied in with college education and that they neglect the common teenager.
- Pioneers came with hopes of being happy and free and to make their fortunes in the new world.
- All delegates to the convention were advised that on their return they would both have to make a written and oral report.
Warriner, John E. and Francis Griffith. English Composition and Grammar:
Complete Course. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1977. Print.