Parallel Structure Aids Smooth Writing (and Reading)

Parallel structure makes sentences easier to read. By creating phrases that are parallel (in the same format as each other), you keep the reader from having to switch brain gears to get your meaning.



Here is a good example from June 2, 2009 in The Birmingham News:



Having the mayor and the council members walk into the Hispanic neighborhoods and becoming involved in their events, she said, would go a long way toward gaining their trust.



The reporter who created this sentence probably THOUGHT he or she was using correct parallel structure because "having" and "becoming" were in the same format. However, a closer look at the meaning of the sentence shows that the two verbs that need to be parallel to each other are "walk" and "become." Those are the two verbs connected to each other by "and." "Having" is going solo here. The sentence should read as follows:



Having the mayor and council members walk into the Hispanic neighborhoods and become more involved in their events, she said, would go a long way toward gaining their trust.



This sentence came from a newspaper article about the City of Albertville, Alabama, which has a large Hispanic population. There is a dispute there about whether signs in Spanish should have to be posted in English, too. Hm-mmmm.