Definition
Parallel structure means repeating the same grammatical form when you list items, compare ideas, or build toward a point. If your first item is a gerund, the rest should be gerunds. If you start with a verb, keep starting with verbs. It's one of the simplest ways to make your prose feel polished and intentional rather than thrown together.
Why It Matters
Broken parallelism is one of those things readers feel before they consciously notice. It creates a stumble, a tiny hiccup in the reading experience. Master parallel structure and your sentences will have a natural momentum that pulls readers forward.
Types of Parallel Structure
Famous Examples
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." - the most famous parallel structure in English literature, stacking contrasts to establish the novel's central tension.
The repeated "124 was" openings across the novel's three parts (spiteful, loud, quiet) use parallel structure at the macro level to track the house's transformation.
Gatsby's lists and descriptions frequently use parallel phrases to create a sense of abundance and excess, mirroring the world he's built.
Common Mistakes
Read your lists out loud. Your ear will catch the mismatch before your eye does. If one item sounds different from the others, restructure it.
Parallelism is seasoning, not the main course. Use it for emphasis, lists, and key moments. Vary your structures elsewhere.
Pick one form and commit. 'She loved to run, swim, and hike' or 'She loved running, swimming, and hiking' - not a mix of both.
Try It Yourself
Write a paragraph describing a place that matters to you using at least three parallel structures: one at the word level (a list), one at the phrase level, and one at the clause level. Read it aloud and notice how the rhythm changes at each level. Then deliberately break one of them and read it again to hear the difference.
Spot broken parallelism before your readers do
Novelium's line editing tools help you catch inconsistent grammatical patterns in lists, comparisons, and rhetorical sequences - the kind of subtle mismatch that makes otherwise strong prose feel slightly off.