Parallelism requires that items in a comparison match in kind and in form.

You follow parallelism every day without thinking about it.

For example, you probably wouldn’t say “I like singing more than dance.”

Instead you would say, “I like singing more than dancing”.

SAMPLE PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR PARALLELISM IN COMPARISONS

        Each of us knows, beyond any doubt, that the cuisine of
                              (A)                   (B)
        Thailand tastes far better than England. No Error
                          (C)                                 (D)          (E)

When you notice that a comparison is being made in a question, take a second and identify the items being compared. Here, you see that the first item is “the cuisine of Thailand”. The second item must be of the same kind as the first item.

So, while it is almost undoubtedly true that Thai food tastes better than England, the country, choice (D) is grammatically incorrect. It should be “the cuisine of England” or “that of England”.

        For him, eating rice with chopsticks is always easier than
               (A)                                                 (B)                 (C)
        eating with knives. No Error
                           (D)           (E)

As is almost always the case on the SAT, the comparison error lies with the second item of the comparison. Choice (D) is grammatically incorrect and should be “rice with knives” or “it with knives”.

 
SAT Writing: Using Parallelism in Comparisons

Lesson Includes:

—Explanation of Parallelism in Comparisons

—Sample Practice Questions

—Practice Question

SAT Math

SAT Reading

SAT Writing

SAT Vocabulary

PARALLELISM IN COMPARISONS REVIEW QUIZ

 

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