Friday, December 14, 2007

Grammatical Guidelines, Part 2: Making Nouns Parallel

Here’s another parallel structure issue from a client, this time with nouns:



Phil,

Is there any problem with this sentence?

The executive vice-president concluded that going to the weekly team meeting, the monthly payroll audit, and the use of PeopleSoft will help track salary issues.

Thanks,
Billy



Hi Billy,

To achieve greater clarity and fluency, edit the sentence by making parallel noun phrases:

The executive vice-president concluded that attending the weekly team meeting, auditing the payroll monthly, and using PeopleSoft will help track salary issues.

Keep writing!
Phil



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