Parallelism: The secret to great writing
TLDRThe video script by Rebecca from engVid focuses on the concept of 'Parallelism' or 'Parallel Structure', a vital technique in both speaking and writing for more effective communication. It is especially crucial in academic and business settings, where non-adherence can lead to poor writing quality and lower grades. Parallelism involves balancing sentence parts, ensuring that when listing items, all forms of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs) are consistent. The benefits of using parallelism include increased sentence weight, balance, rhythm, style, clarity, and emphasis. Rebecca provides examples and corrects faulty parallel structures, emphasizing the importance of this technique for powerful communication. She also references another lesson, 'The Magic of Three', for further enhancement of parallelism. The script concludes with an invitation to practice parallelism through quizzes on their website and to subscribe to her YouTube channel for more English improvement resources.
Takeaways
- 📚 Parallelism is a powerful communication technique that involves balancing different parts of a sentence to enhance clarity and impact.
- 💡 In parallel structure, when listing items, all forms of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs) should be consistent.
- 🎓 Parallelism is especially important in academic and business writing, where not adhering to it can lead to lower grades or be seen as weak writing.
- 📈 Benefits of using parallelism include increased sentence weight, balance, rhythm, style, clarity, and the ability to emphasize points more effectively.
- 🌟 The 'Power of Three' or 'Magic of Three' is a special case of parallelism where three elements are used to create a strong, memorable impact.
- 🔍 To correct faulty parallelism, ensure that each item in a list follows the same grammatical form, such as all verbs or all nouns.
- 📝 Examples given in the script show how sentences can be corrected for parallelism, such as changing 'to be secure' to 'security' for noun consistency.
- 🚫 Avoid mixing different forms of speech in a list without a clear reason, as it can disrupt the parallel structure and confuse the reader.
- 📖 In academic writing, parallel structure is not just a stylistic choice but a requirement for clear and effective communication.
- 📈 Practicing parallelism can lead to more dramatic and powerful speaking and writing, making the message more compelling to the audience.
- 💻 For further practice and to test your understanding of parallelism, engage with quizzes and additional resources available on the engVid website.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the lesson presented by Rebecca from engVid?
-The main topic of the lesson is 'Parallelism' or 'Parallel Structure', which is a technique used to communicate more powerfully in both speaking and writing.
Why is parallelism considered important in academic and business contexts?
-Parallelism is important in academic and business contexts because it helps to communicate more effectively. In academic circles, not following parallel structure rules can be considered a mistake, leading to lower grades or a perception of weak writing.
What are the benefits of using parallel structure in sentences?
-The benefits of using parallel structure include increased sentence weight, balance, rhythm, style, clarity, and the ability to emphasize points more effectively, which can make speech or writing more dramatic and powerful.
How does parallelism work when listing items in a sentence?
-When listing items in a sentence using parallelism, all items should be in the same form of speech, such as verbs with verbs, nouns with nouns, adjectives with adjectives, and adverbs with adverbs.
What is the significance of using 'three' in parallel structure as mentioned in the script?
-Using 'three' in parallel structure is considered special and is often referred to as 'The Magic of Three'. It is a powerful writing technique that can make sentences more effective, and is commonly used by famous leaders and writers.
How does Rebecca demonstrate the correction of faulty parallelism in the example sentences?
-Rebecca provides examples of sentences with faulty parallelism and then shows how to correct them by ensuring that all parts of the sentence are in the same form of speech and that the structure is consistent.
What is the correction for the sentence 'The lightbulbs are in the cabinet, on the table or the kitchen sink.'?
-The correction is to include a preposition before 'the kitchen sink' to maintain parallel structure, resulting in 'The lightbulbs are in the cabinet, on the table, or under the kitchen sink.'
How can the sentence 'She wants to speak to the manager, return the cellphone and to get a refund.' be corrected?
-The sentence can be corrected by either removing the extra 'to' after 'and', resulting in 'She wants to speak to the manager, return the cellphone, get a refund.', or by maintaining the infinitive form throughout, as in 'She wants to speak to the manager, to return the cellphone, and to get a refund.'
What is the issue with the sentence 'To fly will be better than driving.'?
-The issue is that 'driving' is a gerund while 'to fly' is an infinitive, which breaks the parallel structure. It should be corrected to 'Flying will be better than driving.' to maintain parallelism.
How does the sentence 'She wanted love, happiness, and to be secure.' lack parallel structure?
-The sentence lacks parallel structure because 'love' and 'happiness' are nouns, but 'to be secure' is an infinitive phrase. It should be corrected to 'She wanted love, happiness, and security.' to maintain parallelism.
What is the corrected form of the sentence 'The job demands professional qualifications, the ability to manage others and experience, working around the globe.'?
-The corrected form is 'The job demands professional qualifications, managerial ability, and global experience.', which maintains parallel structure by using adjective-noun pairs.
What is the correction needed for the sentence 'Let's start by checking your essay and look for, any faulty parallelism.'?
-The correction is to include the gerund 'looking' after 'and' to match the structure of the first part of the sentence, resulting in 'Let's start by checking your essay and looking for any faulty parallelism.'
Where can viewers find more practice on parallelism and other English lessons?
-Viewers can find more practice on parallelism and other English lessons on engVid's website at www.engvid.com, where they can also access a quiz on parallelism and subscribe to the YouTube channel for more content.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Parallelism
Rebecca introduces the concept of parallelism, emphasizing its importance in academic, business, and social communication. She explains that parallelism involves balancing sentence parts to enhance clarity, rhythm, and impact. Rebecca provides examples of parallel and non-parallel structures and outlines the benefits of using parallelism, such as improved sentence weight, balance, rhythm, style, and clarity, leading to more dramatic and powerful communication. She also notes that failing to use parallel structure in academic writing can result in lower grades.
🔍 Identifying and Correcting Faulty Parallelism
The paragraph focuses on identifying mistakes in parallel structure through a series of examples. Rebecca presents sentences with incorrect parallelism and shows how to correct them by ensuring that the parts of the sentence are balanced. She covers various forms of speech, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, and demonstrates how to achieve parallelism by matching their grammatical functions. The examples include correcting sentences about lightbulbs, a person's desires, flying versus driving, and a job's requirements. Rebecca also discusses the effectiveness of using parallelism in threes, referencing a previous lesson called 'The Magic of Three.'
📝 Applying Parallelism in Complex Sentences
Rebecca addresses how to maintain parallelism in longer, more complex sentences. She provides a detailed example of a sentence that initially appears parallel but contains inconsistencies. By adjusting the sentence structure to match the grammatical function of its components, Rebecca shows how to create a parallel sentence that is both professional and impactful. She also encourages viewers to practice identifying and correcting faulty parallelism, directing them to resources on the EngVid website and her YouTube channel for further learning and practice.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Parallelism
💡Academic circles
💡Business world
💡Rhythm
💡Style
💡Emphasis
💡Gerunds
💡Infinitives
💡Adjectives
💡Adverbs
💡Nouns
💡Faulty parallelism
Highlights
Parallelism is a speaking or writing technique that helps communicate more powerfully by balancing different parts of a sentence.
Parallel structure is especially important in academic circles, the business world, and socially.
Creating sentences with parallel structure gives them more weight, balance, rhythm, style, clarity, and emphasis.
Parallel structure is considered a mistake in writing if not followed, leading to lower grades in academic writing.
Examples of parallel structure include using verbs with verbs, nouns with nouns, adjectives with adjectives, and adverbs with adverbs.
Using parallelism in threes (triple parallelism) is a powerful writing technique used by famous leaders and writers.
Correcting parallelism involves ensuring consistency in verb tenses, prepositions, infinitives, and noun forms.
Faulty parallelism can be identified and corrected by analyzing sentence structure and making necessary adjustments.
Parallelism improves the quality of writing and speaking, making it more dramatic and powerful.
Parallel structure is a key principle to follow for effective communication in both speech and writing.
The Magic of Three lesson on engVid.com provides additional insights on using parallelism effectively.
Practicing parallelism can significantly enhance one's English writing and speaking skills.
Identifying and correcting faulty parallelism is an important skill to develop for improving sentence structure.
Parallelism helps create well-balanced, rhythmic sentences that are easier to read and understand.
The engVid.com website offers quizzes and videos on parallelism and other techniques to improve English proficiency.
Becoming aware of parallel structure and practicing it can lead to noticeable improvements in writing and speaking.
Transcripts
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