Parallel Structure, Part 2

As I suggested in Part 1 (April 29, 2005), parallel structure, the linking of like ideas through grammatically like forms, shows up when using the words and or or. If I said, "I need to meet with Bob and ..." you would expect to hear the name of a second person I need to meet. If you said to me, "Tonight we should eat Thai food or ..." I'd expect to hear another type of cuisine. The words and and or set up these expectations.


The same expectation occurs when reading bulleted or numbered lists. Although the and does not actually appear, we assume it's there. The errant example below illustrates this point.

Please bring the following items with you:

• writable CD
• 750 megabyte zip disk
• floppy disk
• This will ensure that you will be prepared for any installation configuration.

The sentence introducing the bullet list, known as the lead-in sentence, asks the reader to bring items. The final bullet, however, is not an item, but the benefit of bringing the items. To maintain parallel structure, the writer may revise the lead-in sentence and bullet list, as shown below.


To ensure that you will be prepared for any installation configuration, please bring the following items with you:

• writable CD
• 750 megabyte zip disk
• floppy disk

Keeping like ideas aligned in parallel form goes a long way toward creating clear, concise, consistent documents. Keep it in mind!