Parallel structure and word roots

Parallel structure

Parallel structure in a sentence occurs when its grammatical units match. For example, in “I like to run, jump, and fish” the three verbs match. In “He enjoyed jazz, blues, and reggae,” three nouns are listed.

Incorrect: Nolan looked under the bed, behind the couch, and searched in the trash for his missing keys before he found them in the pocket of yesterday’s pants.

Correct: Nolan looked under the bed, behind the couch, and in the trash for his missing keys before he found them in the pocket of yesterday’s pants.

The incorrect version adds a second verb, searched, that disrupts the parallel structure.

Writers use parallel structure to indicate that ideas are of similar importance.

This example is from The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding found at Project Gutenberg. It combines continuers, cause-and-effect words, and parallel structure to describe Mrs. Wilkins, Squire Allworthy’s housekeeper.

First, therefore tells you that what follows is a result of what’s just been said–even if we don’t know exactly what that was.

The construction “as…so is it” is a variation on “as…as.” It creates a similarity between the predatory kite (a species of raptor) and Mrs. Wilkins.

Finally, parallel structure completes the description by saying that Mrs. Wilkins, a “slave and flatterer” of her employer Squire Allworthy, expects or exacts “the same taxes,” servility and flattery, from those below her.

Restatement clues

Writers often restate key ideas, so something that’s referred to repeatedly is going to be more important than something that is only mentioned once. You can look around in the text for synonyms that can help you define unfamiliar words.

For example:

He lacked the perspicacity, the insight, and the wit to rise to such a delicate political situation.

In the context of the sentence, what does perspicacity most nearly mean?

a. Breeding
b. Decorum
c. Perceptiveness
d. Experience
e. Audacity

Double negatives

Just like in math, a double negative in an English sentence equals a positive. When Ty Cobb said, “I have observed that baseball is not unlike a war, and when you come right down to it, we batters are the heavy artillery,” he is really saying that baseball is like war.

Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

You already know that words are made up of parts. Affixes–prefixes and suffixes–are attached to word roots (also called word bases). A prefix is “fixed on” or attached in front of a root, and suffixes are attached to the end.

For example, the Latin root port (from portare) means “to carry.” When we affix “re-” (back, again) in front of “port,” we get “report,” which literally means “to carry back.” The suffix “-er” (one who, that which) changes *port *to porter (one who carries) and *reporter *(one who reports–or carries back–the news). *Portal *has the same root, and a portal is a doorway that carries you from one place to the next.

Prefixes and Roots

There is some confusion among grammarians about which word parts are roots and which are prefixes. Don’t worry about the classification; you won’t be tested on it! Instead, try to retain a basic sense of what each word part means.

Suffixes

The purpose of a suffix is to identify whether a word is a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. They usually do not affect the meaning of a word, only its function in the sentence. For test-taking purposes, when you see a long word that you don’t know, cover the suffixes with your finger and focus on identifying the prefixes and roots.