Parallelism: The secret to great writing

Parallelism or parallel structure is one of the secrets of great writing. It gives greater balance and power to the way you communicate. It will help you get higher grades, improve your job prospects, and look more professional. In this lesson, I explain all about parallelism -- what it is and how to use it correctly. This easy but important lesson will take your English to a higher level. Follow up by watching my lesson on the Magic of 3 to strengthen your English even more: • Improve your English w...
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TRANSCRIPT
Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. This lesson is for you if you want to learn how to communicate more powerfully in just a short time. This lesson is about something called: "Parallelism" or "Parallel Structure". Now, in case you've never heard of it, or if you've heard of it but you're not sure what it is, I just want to tell you that it's something really important, especially in academic circles or in the business world. All right? And also socially. So, whether you're speaking, or whether you're writing, this principle of parallelism will help you to communicate more effectively.
So, first of all, what is parallelism? So, it's a speaking or writing technique in which you communicate more powerfully by balancing different parts of your sentence, and I'm going to show you lots of examples so you understand exactly. So, when we create a sentence that has parallel structure, it means that when we have a list of items in our sentence, all of the forms of speech should be the same. For example, you have verbs, verbs, verbs; nouns and nouns; adjectives and adjectives; adverbs and adverbs. Now, that seems obvious, but in real life when people speak and write, they don't always do that. So I'm going to show you: "What are the benefits of using parallelism?" and also exactly how to use them in a sentence.
So, some of the benefits that you will get when you start creating sentences with parallel structure are that your sentences will have more weight, they'll be more balanced, they'll have more rhythm to them, they'll have more style, more clarity (they'll be more clear), and also you'll be able to emphasize things more. And as a result of all that, your speaking or your writing will be much more dramatic and much more powerful. And you may not realize why, but it's really important that this parallel structure exists. Now, in addition, it's not just something to make it better, it's not just something to improve your communication. In academic circles, if you don't follow these parallel structure rules, it's actually considered a mistake in writing; it's considered very weak writing, bad writing, poor writing, and you will get lower grades as a result of that. Okay? So it's really important, especially if you're in the academic world or writing anything serious or in the business world, to write this way.
Let's look at some simple examples first. Okay? So, this sentence, the first one: "Janet sings and dances." So here, what do we see? We see verbs and verbs: "Janet sings and dances." If somebody didn't write this sentence properly, they might write: "Janet sings and is dancing." Now, here it didn't match because this was present simple, so this should be a verb in the present simple; they should both be verbs, they should both be in the same tense, and so on. Okay?
Let's look at more examples. "We enjoy reading and cooking." Here we have two gerunds: "reading", "cooking". Next: "I like to watch movies and to travel abroad." Okay? Now, you see how that seems really balanced? Okay? So we have: "to watch movies", so we have an infinitive and a noun, and "to travel abroad". "To travel", infinitive and a... Well, it's not a noun, but it's like a noun, it functions like a noun.
Next: "The reasons for my view are political, cultural, and social." So here we have three adjectives. Now, up til now we had two, now we have three. And if you've watched my earlier lesson on: "The Power of Three" or "The Magic of Three", you will know that this is really special. This is like parallelism on steroids. This is like the best kind of writing you can do, and a lot of very famous leaders and writers write this way, using parallelism in threes to make things much more effective. So, if you haven't watched that other lesson, I will tell you where you can get it; it's called: "The Magic of Three" on our website. So: "The reasons for my view are political, cultural, and social." Three adjectives.
"The police acted quickly and carefully." Okay? So we have here: "quickly", "carefully", two adverbs. And last: "We enjoy comedies, dramas, and documentaries." So you have here three nouns. Right? So that's what's important: nouns with nouns, adverbs with adverbs, adjectives with adjectives - you get the idea. Okay? Now, if you get the idea, work with me, stay with me. […]

[@engvidRebecca]

This one change can make a huge difference in your English! To speak or write more powerfully for academic or professional success, you can contact me here for private online training: www.rebeccaezekiel.com/

[@brightstar4419]

Learn English with Rebecca [engVid] Thank you 😘 can you translate to arabic language ????

[@chaudharirohit3843]

I have some problems in reading and writing. . Can you help me?

[@amrelakhras4942]

bright star What words do you want translate into Arabic ?

[@luzavila5017]

Thank you.

[@manikrishna3453]

Could you please tell us how to write an essay on social issues

[@learnenglishwithjohn]

Everybody listen up! Rebecca is an amazing teacher!

[@dianathenerd5640]

agreed

[@alliswell-lv7yc]

Agreed

[@patriciaroxanatorresvillan5101]

agreed

[@bhoormaljain1385]

Most impressive way of teaching .

[@jayjay8349]

True that!

[@praveenbangera9162]

Hello Rebecca, I am 65 years of old staying in India. Believe me, I am making a good brief notes of all the lessons you have thought us, for my only eight months old grandson, who is staying in Australia. Many many thanks to you for your wonderful way of teaching. It may be very late for me, but I am sure, will help a great deal for my grandson, Kunal.

[@ernestkienzle6058]

Dear Rebecca, Wish I had a teacher like you 60 years ago. Proper use of written language and its punctuation are essential to clear and cogent thinking. In addition, writing can also be therapy, and a form of meditation. Keep up your good work, Ernest, NYC

[@boonang4097]

Rebecca I accidentally came across your website. You are so kind to share your skills and knowledge so freely. Many wants to learn and improve their English and you make it so FREELY available. Thank you very much for your professionalism. You have blessed many.

[@christopherkowalewski]

These are fantastic videos that highlight quality writing skills! On a side note, I’m not sure the use of the Oxford comma in a series is consistent in the examples in this video and others I’ve watched. > We invited our neighbor, our doctor and our favorite journalist to dinner. (no comma before the ‘and’ shows that 3 people were invited). > We invited our neighbor, our doctor, and our favorite journalist to dinner. ( two people were invited - a comma before the ‘and’ is actually the second comma showing that our neighbor is our our doctor). Given these two potential readings, I’m not for systematically using the Oxford comma or a comma before ‘and’ / ‘or’ in a series.

[@RonaldMcPaul]

My hobbies are eating my family and not using commas.

[@eliskadar8931]

You are absolutely amazing! I'm so sorry that I didn't discover your lessons few years ago! Thank you very much for your help!💯

[@xiaodongwang7753]

Thank you, Rebecca. You are eloquent, calm, beautiful, and inspiring. I’m helping my son do his homework, and come to your video to check on parallelism. He chose parallelism for “we’ll bring back our jobs, we will bring back our borders, we will bring back our wealth, and we will bring back our dreams.” I guess he chose correctly.😁

[@tampachurchofgod1]

Thank you Rebecca. There are two takeaways here for me. The first is, I am learning new stuffs. And secondly, I am building confidence in what I have been doing correctly. You are a pro.

[@MrSpookSpeaks]

May you live long and teach us English like this.... I wish you were my teacher🤩 teaching style is excellent

[@Marcosantonio-wb7ty]

Dear teacher, I love your way of explaning grammatical points.

[@AD-CAN]

LOve Rebecca's lessons and her teaching style!!! Thank you Rebecca

[@-wonqs4191]

Thank you so much! I was having a hard time with this lesson but you made its so much easier! Subscribed and liked

[@mosinakhatun3574]

I am a beginner and still struggling for knowing better English but I am very impressed by your lesson and pronunciation. mam you are a great teacher.hat's of you. if I grammatically error my sentences please pardon me. I am very very impressed......... honestly say.thanks.

[@adombireraymond9674]

I like the way you teach, you take your time to teach. You do not rush. God bless you

[@GothicElf68]

Thank you for your wonderful video on parallel structure. I am an English tutor and when I write, I tend to use parallel structure automatically. Yet, I have never fully understood the concept. This break down of the technique and the rule helped me understand it much better. I can now pass this on when I am tutoring.

[@simplymaria7908]

The best English class of my life. Oh my God! I always had so many questions regards the correct way of writing.

[@germainesanders768]

Greetings. Ms. Rebecca, is a teacher. That I follow on KZbin, to improve my grammar, punctuation, , and speaking.

[@zahidrafique1175]

Waoo! You're an amazing teacher, I'm surprised; KZbin has videos of world's best teachers. I'm really inspired by you.

[@gracebock2900]

The idea of parallelism or rather the word "parallelism is new to me tho I've used it in writing all the time.Thanks Rebecca.Lifelong learning.I did notice that the word "abroad" on the whiteboard has a missing "a"😁The sentences given later(to be corrected) were very good testing examples.Thanks, Rebecca😘

[@hannanice6636]

I'd never known about this parallelism if you haven't done this lesson. I'm so grateful to you Ma'am. I keeo wondering why I can't speak or write appropriately and you just gave me the answer.

[@bbblackwell]

I never heard of this, but when editing, I always refine in accordance with this format, simply because it sounds better. This is a testament to the validity of your claim that this technique will intuitively land more agreeably with the prospective reader, whether they’re specifically looking for its usage or not.

[@aleksiejporiadnyj9059]

ЗАМЕЧАТЕЛЬНЫЕ УРОКИ АНГЛИЙСКОГО! МНЕ ОЧЕНЬ ПОНРАВИЛИСЬ ВАШИ УРОКИ, МАДАМ РЕБЕККА. СПАСИБО БОЛЬШОЕ.

[@anurafernando5436]

An important lesson overlooked by many grammarians and non-native teachers. Surely this lesson helps many. Thanks!

[@ringchamdisuang9561]

I admire your teaching technique; making the best use of it.

[@rosacasiero4250]

Wow, never heard about parallelism before, it's a very powerful way of writing and speaking, I need to do some practice I like it so much! Many thanks teacher, for showing me this amazing way to push my English to a higher level! 😊🌹

[@setokaiba7204]

Rosa Casiero you may listen to eminem or lupe fiasco for complex lyrics.

[@likhatokur2643]

Seto Kaiba plz motivate me not only her she may be much better than you

[@ajayreddy9502]

yes rosa , Rebecca had open new thought process in me with parallelism in communicating skills

[@veenanarwani761]

Me too.

[@asiyamalik6636]

such a great lesson, not only for students but for teachers of English too. fabulous!

[@shirinmammadova67]

She is really one of my favorite trainer! Very clear speech and explanation. Thank you!

[@jeanlouisrod6705]

Thanks a lot Rebecca. I'm watching all your lessons day by day. They are so helpful to me and you explain in a way very pedagogical You are such a good teacher. Thank you

[@joynataliasidabutar4565]

Because of this pandemic period we have to learn online and independently, and I also have to make a presentation about this prallelism. And just by listening to your video, I think I understand enough and are ready for the presentation later. Thank you very much for the video material, I will always support you.

[@ajayreddy9502]

pandemic period was dark . Rebecca enlightening us through her videos

[@mwj5368]

Thanks Rebecca! You have a very clear way of teaching and with good examples. I learned a lot from your lesson. I know of one misspelling and take it right away as inessential and something we all can easily do and hope others don't dwell on it. I often stare at a word many times then suddenly the misspelling pops out at me. It is very nice of you to take the time to share your lesson and your teaching talents! Thanks!

[@moja-mojahh.jpeg.9829]

I like the way Rebecca teached, explained, and presented this lesson. She speaks clearly and concisely; It made the topic easier to understand and to apply. Thank you Rebecca! This lesson is very useful to improve my speaking and writing skills. More power to you. Take care!

[@bakerdavid7766]

*taught 😁

[@antoniodossantos5960]

Thanks Rebecca 🌎 Greetings from Colombia. The Venezuelan Immigrant writer 🇻🇪

[@dongunasekara1040]

She is a my favorite teacher I have ever seen

[@BeaTriceWeber]

BEST ENGLISH TEACHER

[@arvaph4798]

Thank you!! Para sa English assignment, di ako nakapasok ECUZ PLDT is real, very helpful po ito. !!PHILIPPINES!!

[@bhavesh315]

I was not familiar this concept. But now I understood this in a very well manner. The way you are teaching that is very simple and unique. thank u so much mam for this valuable lecture.

[@fiteptrai6029]

Thank you, Rebecca! You are really a good teacher who I have never seen before.

[@ТимТим-ъ8ы]

You are amazing teacher. I watch your video lessons every morning, and take a quiz after it hopefully to pass a IELTS perfect :) Thank you 😱

[@DCsGladiator]

Have you passed?

[@b_g4469]

Please , start a writing full course , as your every single video helped us to learn more , we suggest you to begin a writing course.🍁 You are such a great teacher ever 🥀

[@the_wizard_exe]

I've gotten all what you had explained for us thank you lots , that class was a great effort by you.

[@princessvv2237]

Thanks for this mam. I really appreciate your teaching, I learnt things about how to use a faulty parallelism.

[@divyasampath9500]

This was English lessons on steroids! Superlike :) Though the mispelled word 'abrod' is killing me :(

[@benzaitenchan]

We are only human.

[@barzani1684]

Yeap every human make mistake😄📚

[@vincentoloo1765]

Rebecca is really talented teacher .her lessons are more of enjoyable and understandable .

[@DarkAngel98super]

I found the video very helpful! I had never heard about parallelism before, but I realised that many times I struggled to write a sentence in a way it sounded good and eventually couldn't, because I didn't know what the problem was. Now I know that when sentences don't sound good is probably because of parallelism missing. However, I don't like the way the fifth sentence turned out after "parallelising" it: I preferred the way it originally was. It may sound better if written this way instead: "the job demands professional qualifications, leadership skills and working experience abroad." (It's still not "parallelised", I'm aware of it, but still sounds better than the suggested one to me). Keep up with this amazing work! :)

[@MistaraDroit]

Rebecca, you are the best teacher in the World

[@krishnasamyravi6838]

Absolutely valuable inputs, go a long way in enhancing our ability to speak and write. The presentation is truly educative and effective. So nice of you for sharing the knowledge, Ma'am. Great. (Ravi)

[@ranimvegas9085]

You are litterally a wonderful teacher i have ever met ! Much love and respect from Algeria🌼❤❤❤

[@nantongoharriettracy4951]

Teacher Rebacca speaks naturally and passionally every one gets the point. Correct me if lam wrong or right with parallelism. Thanks.

[@springsprouts7]

thank you Rebecca Ma'm, you are an awesome teacher

[@ravindersinghmadadgar3903]

Your teaching is best ever I seen God bless you

[@PlaceOfAbundance-cv8kp]

I'm a fan of your excellence and winning smile. I stumbled ENGVID about 10 years ago, and have learned tremendously mostly from you. Thank you, Rebecca, you rock!! :-))

[@khinyaminn6293]

Thank you 😊 you are the best teacher 🙏

[@bliss596]

A big thanks to you, ma'am. I am currently doing my first assignment for this academic year. :)

[@powerofroses1670]

I love your English lessons, Mrs. Rebecca. You are a great English teacher.

[@tijuanaruiz3568]

Lovely teacher. I love how you explain and also beautiful voice. Thank you Teacher Rebecca. From San Diego, CA

[@mariacasella7144]

Very clear!!! Excellent and useful lesson!!!

[@Armando_Lara]

Thank you Becca! Your lesson was short, enjoyable and useful.

[@francinesemete3657]

Adam was my favorite teacher but my feeling today is for you .... Thank you you are the best

[@Abu-Aley]

Hi Rebecca, What a superb stuff. "To steep my English, I need to carefully watch, deeply listen, and patiently study your lessons." What about parallelism here ☝? Adverb verb, adverb verb, and adverb verb. Was it correct? Regards, Ahmad, ☺ 👍

[@krishnachandrasharma8133]

"To steepen ... ;)

[@jagirbhachu2263]

I am planning to build side extension in.liue of timber shed and I like to seek your advice

[@kateclements6416]

Ain't no way you just explained this for 13:42 minutes and I understand it. My teacher discussed this to us 1 hour to death but still have no clue. Realizing that I'm not really dumb as what I felt like when my teacher was discussing this to us😭. So THANK YOU VERY MUCHHHHH

[@sureshkumarchauhan1579]

You are an amazing teacher. I have learned a lot from you. Thanks a lot.

[@RakibulIslam-ds8sz]

Rebecca is a wonderful Teacher undoubtedly

[@wehlamunda3744]

Wonderful experience to come across your lecture rebbica. English was never so interesting and easy.

[@MohamedAli-rd7rn]

Hey again Rebecca Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful experienced and helpful lesson! It's really super important. Besides that it's actually out of this world . More over your KZbin channel is really a great place to study easily ! Thank you so much again for being transparent with me! Have a fantastic life with your loved ones! 🇸🇴❤🇨🇦♥️

[@bilgassimelhabib3379]

you explain really well, perfectly, understandably

[@digitalglamourtelevision3627]

I would describe this presentation as follows: delivered by a scholar schooled in the rigors of simplicity. In performance we talk about the organic, the balanced, the centered. Good writing assumes the very complexion of orchestral melody. Very much like a Mozartian or Beethovenian composition. It works because it is organically balanced, tempered. I think: music in the process of writing. It is a process of inducing the reading minds outside of myself to respond in kind - musically. - Godfrey Silas

[@linacarol7344]

Hello Rebecca, can you help me with this example, pls? 1. To walk, biking, and driving are my favorite ways to get around the town. or 2. Walking, biking and to drive are my favorite ways to get around the town. or 3. To walk, to bike and also driving are my favorite ways to get around the town. Thanks, Karol

[@dragoterzan6105]

I like hearing you very much. You sound like live parallelism. Your positivism and optimism always impress me. You have my great respect and admiration. I thank you a lot for my progress in learning English.

[@user-st3cp6vo8w]

Thank you! I understand more clearly, definitely will get higher marks because of this! 😉💕

[@princessvv2237]

I got 100% score at your quiz! Thank you, I really understand your teachings mam. Albeit I am 13....

[@robertfiala1540]

well done Rebecca, a great video as usual, you are a gifted teacher, thanks a million!

[@evelynsierra2004]

With your teachings I fix my article and it looks amazing, like Harvard. Ty

[@eye-entertainer4713]

I love this teacher.... She's amazing... 👍👍👍👍👍

[@tokegragulesson3409]

11:03 the ability to manage others (specific) is not the same with managerial ability (broader).

[@billandpech]

I don't think so. The focus of "others" is no more *specific* than anyone other than one's self. The focus of "managerial ability is identical to that, not *broader* .

[@divyasharan4407]

I gave you mock test! It was good!! I got 10/10. Thank you for this session mam!❤ love from India!...❤️

[@pedroestrada4903]

Rebecca, you're an outrageous Teacher. That was an amazing class. Congratulations!!!!!

[@ricardo191a]

Hi Rebecca. I just wanted to say thank you so much. I love your lessons. They help me to improve my speaking, reading, and writing skills. I will continue watching and listening to all your videos. :) :D

[@jyotsnamusafir2207]

Wonderful explanation. Got score of 100 in the quiz that followed the video

[@MrRamesh940]

I learned a lot from your Videos , You are excellent teacher .

[@Фатима-ж2ч]

Oh God!! The best teacher!!💖💖💖Thank you very much dear Rebecca!! So beautiful , powerful English you teaching us!!❤❤❤❤❤👌🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@w.d9177]

Фатима Бестаева . hello . can we help each other . plz

[@Фатима-ж2ч]

Wael AD Hello..how can we help each other?

[@w.d9177]

Фатима Бестаева . Iam English teacher from Damascus . but I teach Syrians in Lebanon . Iam not fluent in English .. I really need to improve my speaking . so I hope to communicate to practise with you soon by gmail or hangouts application

[@w.d9177]

I can send you my email now . I will be very happy if you say ok .

[@Фатима-ж2ч]

Wael AD 😊I am not fluent in English also..but we can try😊

[@aminrastgar]

Your videos are concise, informative, and well organized Thanks 😊

[@riigi3786]

You are indeed an amazing teacher.

[@irmapamelaengelen3790]

Dear Teacher - I do really like your explanation step by step regarding English course. Thank you Teacher ( Ms Rebecca )

[@JS-os5bl]

I don't actually have to learn English, but if I had a chance in real life, I would definitely attend Miss Rebecca's clssses :-))

[@Englishonthego123]

Thanks a lot Rebecca. You really are a good teacher

[@arham3423]

I love her teaching so much ! I am speechless 🙊

[@subhadrasutar2993]

Ma'am ,please discuss the use of let and let's in your next classes.

[@prinsens3201]

This was an excellent writing lesson. Thank you so much!

[@simplyashly8767]

On the third sentence it's also possible to correct it by changing the last word: To fly will be better than to drive.

[@guilhermesobrinho1329]

Thanks, Rebecca. I do enjoy your lessons. Sentence nº 2 sounded a little bit cacophonical (I hope that word exists lol), but sentence nº 7 convinced me. I've been using parallelism since always just because it sounds better to my musical ears lol.

[@ArvindKumar-pn1te]

Rebecca, you are a great teacher.

[@anjurawal8773]

Everyday I listen. You are amazing.

[@ryuichikuwahara]

Sentence number 6 seems correct in itself if “look for” comes after “checking”. Start by checking then continue to look for.... I think it depends on the context.

[@amankoul7229]

I'm very interested in your lessons I try to read and listen to you all the time please thanks for your time

[@mcglrnnz]

Thank you Miss!! I got a passing score because of you!!

[@AdstoreTech]

thanks, ma'am, I'm from Indonesia and this is very clear so I can understand rather than my lecture's explanation.

[@eyommig6554]

This is high of my level, but thank you so much.i started watching your videos.

[@sandrae.sanchiz8442]

Thank you sooooo much Rebecca. 👏👏👏👏

[@WigantX]

I had never heard about parallelism before, and my first thought when I read the title was it had something to do with comparisons, for instance when someone says "as clear as water" or "as hot as hell", etc XD

[@Jan96106]

You have never hear of it because teachers are taught not to cover grammar because it bores students and students must be entertained.

[@maddisoncooper3540]

@@Jan96106 Yet they still test us on it smh.