IXL | Identify sentences with parallel structure

Which sentence or sentences have correct parallel structure?

On most Saturday and Sunday afternoons, you will find my mother either in her garden or at the library.

On most Saturday and Sunday afternoons, you will find my mother in either her garden or at the library.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Which sentence or sentences have correct parallel structure?

Tessa depends on her smartphone for almost everything; she has apps to track her exercise, to monitor her spending, and to schedule her homework.

Tessa depends on her smartphone for almost everything; she has apps to track her exercise, monitor her spending, and schedule her homework.

key idea

When two or more words, phrases, or clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction to form a series, those elements must be parallel in structure. Parallel elements have the same grammatical function in the sentence.

red X symbol, The community center is a hub of activity and well equipped for meetings.

The second element is not a noun phrase.

green checkmark, The community center is a hub of activity and a well-equipped meeting space.

Both elements are noun phrases.

For joined verb phrases, each phrase must contain its own helping or modal verb, or the initial helping or modal verb must apply to all of the phrases.

red X symbol, Sarah will order the flowers, pick up the decorations, and might help us set up.

The second element is missing a modal verb.

green checkmark, Sarah will order the flowers, will pick up the decorations, and might help us set up.

All three elements have a modal verb.

green checkmark, Sarah will order the flowers, pick up the decorations, and help us set up.

All three elements share the initial modal verb.

Correlative conjunctions, like both/and, either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also, must also join parallel elements.

red X symbol, He was not only late, but also made a noisy entrance.

The first element is an adjective. The second element is a verb phrase.

green checkmark, Not only was he late, but he also made a noisy entrance.

Both elements are clauses: "was he late" and "he made a noisy entrance."

solution

The first sentence has parallel structure because the joined elements are all infinitive phrases that start with the word to.

green checkmark, Tessa depends on her smartphone for almost everything; she has apps to track her exercise, to monitor her spending, and to schedule her homework.

The second sentence also has parallel structure because the joined elements are all infinitive phrases that share the word to.

green checkmark, Tessa depends on her smartphone for almost everything; she has apps to track her exercise, monitor her spending, and schedule her homework.

$Confetti$

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

hr	min	sec
00	00	06

SmartScore
out of 100
IXL's SmartScore is a dynamic measure of progress towards mastery, rather than a percentage grade. It tracks your skill level as you tackle progressively more difficult questions. Consistently answer questions correctly to reach excellence (90), or conquer the Challenge Zone to achieve mastery (100)! Learn more

Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

PP.2Identify coordinating conjunctions

JJ.1Use the correct pair of correlative conjunctions

CC.2Identify prepositional phrases

FF.5Identify infinitives and infinitive phrases

Excellent! You got that right!

Jumping to level 1 of 1

Excellent!