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MUHI English; Empowering Your English

Task 10
Study the parallel structure.

Parallel Structure
One use of a conjunction is to connect words or phrases that have the same grammatical
function in a sentence. This use of conjunctions is called “parallel structure.” The conjunctions
used in this pattern are and, but, or, and nor. These words are called “coordinating conjunc-
tions.”

(a) Steve and his friend are coming to dinner. In (a): noun + and+ noun
(b) Susan raised her hand and snapped her fingers. In (b): verb + and+ verb
(c) He is waving his arms and (is) shouting at us. In (c): verb+ and+ verb
(d) These shoes are old but comfortable. (The second auxiliary may be omitted if it
(e) He wants to watch TV or (to) listen to some music. is the same as the first auxiliary)
In (d): adjective+ but+ adjective
In (e): infinitive+ or+ infinitive (The second
to is usually omitted.)

Connecting ideas with and
Connecting items within a sentence
(a) No comma : I saw a cat and a mouse
(b) Commas : I saw a cat, a mouse, and a dog.
When and connects only two words (or phrases) within a sentence, no comma is used. When
and connect three or more items within a sentence, commas are used.

Connecting two sentences
(a) Comma: I saw a cat, and you saw a mouse
When and connects two complete sentences (also called independent clauses),a comma is
usually used.
(b) Period : I saw a cat. You saw a mouse.
Without and, two complete sentences are separated by a period, NOT a comma.

Connecting ideas with But and Or
(a) I went to bed but couldn’t sleep.
(b) Is a lemon sweet or sour?
(c) Did you order coffee, tea, or milk?
And, but, and or are called “conjunctions.” Like and, but and or can connect items within a
sentence. Commas are used with a series of three or more items, as in (c).

I dropped the vase. = a sentence It didn’t break. = a sentence
(d) I dropped the vase, but it didn’t break.
(e) Do we have class on Monday, or is Monday a holiday?
A comma is usually used when but or or combines two complete (independent) sentences into
one sentence, as in (d) and (e)

Picture 4.7
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