Parallelism Exercises
Tutoring and Learning Centre, George Brown College 2013
Parallelism is when closely related parts of a sentence fit together using similar grammatical
form. It makes writing clearer and easier for the reader to understand.
A.One item in each of the groups is not parallel to the others. Cross it out, and then substitute it
with an item that is parallel with the rest of the group.
B.The following may have one or more items that are not parallel with the others. Make all of the
items in the group parallel. (There is more than one way to do this.)
C. Correct the faulty parallelism in the following sentences to make them clear, concise, and easy to
read.
1. Wen gets her daily exercise by walking her dog, going for a bike ride, and cleaning.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Would you prefer the graceful owl, rats, or a sneaky cat as your pet?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. The difference between rural and country living is the height of the buildings and the population.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Stress makes it difficult to exercise regularly, have relationships that are stable, and be eating food
with benefits to one’s health.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. The TLC can help your writing skills, to gain independence, and confidently completing your
assignments.
1. Swimming
Biking
Paddle
Running
2. Blue
Banana
Red
Purple
3. Watched
Ate
Slept
Drive
5. Reading carefully
Biking slowly
Jumping quickly
To stand
1. A School of fish
Lions proudly lounging
Crocodiles swimming together
A Murder of crows
2. Elegance
Tall
Gracefully
Easy-going personality
3. To barbeque
Cooked on a stove
Grilling evenly
Food that’s baked in an oven
4. Beautiful pictures
Loudly singing
Playing volleyball with friends
To cook pasta for dinner
4. Toronto
Yukon
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
