using parallel structures and fixing structures problems

Naary Corral

January 19, 2015

Universidad de Sonora

• SENTENCE:

- Group of words that is used to communicate ideas.

• STRUCTURE:

- Subject + Verb + Object/Complement

• When it does not have the complete structure,

it becomes a fragment.

• COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS:

- Word that links two independent clauses.

• FAN BOYS

- For, and, not, but, or, yet, so.

Parallelism

• Means that each item in a list or comparison

follows the same grammatical pattern.

o -ing word

oNoun

oPhrase

oClause

oVerb+Complement

Nouns Examples

• I went on a tour to Chichén Itzá with Chinese,

Colombian, French and American people.

• I love quesadillas, tacos, and tamales.

-ing words Examples

• I love swimming, singing and dancing.

(as nouns)

• This summer I will be swimming, singing and

dancing.

(as verbs)

Clauses

• The concierge wanted to know which country

we came from and what our next destination

were.

Verb+Complement

Examples

• Dania wants to go eat sushi, to go to Navojoa,

and to stop doing homework.

Notes

• You may substitute a noun for its pronoun, to

avoid repeating.

• The summer vacations of the morning

students will last the same as those of the

evening students.

Notes

• All the words in the first item do not always

have to be repeated in the second. You may

repeat some words depending on what you

want to emphasize.

• Before you go to the beach or to the mall, you

should pick up your belongings.

Parallelism with Coordinators:

And, Or, But

• Words, phrases, and clauses that are joined by

and, or and but are written in parallel form.

• Paloma is going to San Carlos this

summer, and Eli is going to Obregon.

• Pancho likes to party hard but no to stay

home.

• Gaby will go camping or fishing.

Parallelism with

Correlative

(Paired Conjunctions)

• Use parallel forms with the paired

conjunctions:

● both … and

● either … or

● neither … nor

● not only … but also

• A travel agency provides the means for both

transportation and hotel accommodation.

• Paired conjunctions are placed directly before

the elements they join in the sentence.

• Rocio can get to Cancun either on an airplane

or on a buss.

• Veronica is neither going to the beach nor

visiting her relatives.

• Most of the students are not only concerned

about the grades but also about the vacations.

Sentence Fragments

• Fragments are incomplete sentences.

Problem

Because I am going to California.

Correction

I am waiting for summer vacation because

I am going to California.

Sentence Fragments

• A word group that lacks a subject

or a verb and does not express

a complete thought is a fragment.

Sentence Fragments

No Subject

Went camping last summer.

Correction

Edilia went camping last summer.

No Main verb

Pedro his first summer love.

Correction

Pedro had his first summer love.

Choppy Sentences

• Problem: Choppy sentences are sentences that

are too short and have many repeated words.

Solution: Combine sentences with conjunctions

and link sentences through subordination

Choppy Sentences

Problem

Summer is my favorite time of the year.

I can go to the beach. I can go to camp. I can spend

the night with friends. There are a lot of things I can

do in the summer.

Solution

Summer is my favorite time of the year because

there are a lot of things I can do. I can go to the

beach, to camp, or I can spend the night with

friends.

Run-On Sentences

• It is a sentence in which two or more

independent clauses are written one after

another with no punctuation.

Example:

- I went to Japan then I visited my family in

Canada.

Comma Splice

• When two independent clauses are incorrectly

joined by a comma without a coordinating

conjunction.

Example:

- I went to Japan, then I visited my family in

Canada.

Correcting Mistakes

• Add a period:

- I went to Japan. Then I visited my family in

Canada.

• Add a semicolon:

- I went to Japan; then I visited my family in Canada.

Correcting Mistakes

• Add a coordinator:

- I went to Japan, and then I visited my family

in Canada.

• Add a subordinator:

- I went to visit my family in Canada after I

went to Japan.

Stringy Sentences

• Sentence with too many clauses, usually

connected with “and”, “but”, “so”, and

sometimes “because”.

Example:

- Many people wait for summer to travel, and

then they may visit a lot of places, so they

spend all of their money by the end of the

vacations.

Stringy Sentences

**YOU CAN FIX A STRINGY SENTENCE

BY DIVIDING IT OR RECOMBINING THE

CLAUSES***

Many people wait for summer to travel.

Then, they can visit a lot of places. But by

the end of vacations, they have spent all

their money.

1. Means that each item in a list or comparison

follows the same grammatical pattern.

a) Run-On Sentences

b) Parallelism

c) Choppy Sentence

2. They are incomplete sentences.

a) Stringy Sentences

b) Comma Splice

c) Fragments

3. Sentences with too many independent

clauses.

a) Stringy Sentences

b) Parallelism

c) Fragments

4. Sentences that are too short

a) Choppy Sentences

b) Parallelism

c) Fragments

5. They are incorrectly joined independent

clauses

a) Parallelism

b) Fragments and Choppy Sentences

c) Run-ons and Comma splices

References

• Agarwal, R. (2012). Summer Vacation Essay for School

Students. Retrieved from

• Retrieved from the writing copies given, from page 179

to 193. Since we were missing author, editorial, books

name, year of publication, etc., we were unable to cite in

apa style.

• Weber, R. (2010, April 17). For Short, Choppy

Sentences. . Retrieved , from

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/03/