Screening Test

Grammar
 Parallelism
• Parallelism
• Parallel structure
• Parallel construction

The repetition of the same grammatical

form in two or more parts of a sentence.
 Cont…
• Kelly had to iron, do the washing, and
shopping before her parents arrived.

• Driving a car requires coordination, patience,

and to have good eyesight.

• Ali prefers jeans to wearing a suit.

 Corrected
• Kelly had to do the ironing, washing, and
shopping before her parents arrived.

• Driving a car requires coordination, patience,

and good eyesight.

• Ali prefers wearing jeans to wearing a suit.

 A simple way

To check for parallelism in your writing:

(a) Make sure you have paired nouns with nouns,
verbs with verbs, prepositional phrases with
prepositional phrases, and so on.
(b) Underline each element in a sentence and
check that the corresponding element uses the
same grammatical form.
 Where

• Parallel construction is most commonly used

in sentences containing elements that appear
in a series or in a pair.
 What

• Parallelism creates a sense of rhythm and

balance in writing by using the same
grammatical structure to express equal ideas.
 If Not

• Faulty parallelism occurs when elements of a

sentence are not balanced, causing the
sentence to sound clunky and awkward.
 How to
Parallelism may be created:
• By connecting two clauses
• By making a list using coordinating
conjunctions
• By comparing two items using than or as
• By connecting two parts of a sentence using
correlative conjunctions.
 Parallel Words

• On the word level, a noun should be grouped

with other nouns, an adjective with other
adjectives, and so on.
 Example
Not parallel
• The company is looking for a candidate who
is friendly, organized, meticulous, and is
going to arrive to work on time.
Parallel
The company is looking for a candidate who
is friendly, organized, meticulous,
and punctual.
 Remember

• When a series is composed of verbs, do not

mix forms. For example, mixing an infinitive
(a verb beginning with to) with a gerund (a
verb form ending in -ing) breaks parallel
structure.
 Example
Not Parallel

• The participants in the workshop learned

how to communicate, negotiate, and working
collaboratively for the most effective
outcome.
 Cont..
Parallel

• The participants in the workshop learned

how to communicate, negotiate, and work
collaboratively for the most effective
outcome.
 Parallel Phrases

• Parallel structure should be used to balance a

series of phrases with the same grammatical
structure.

• Avoid mixing noun phrases with verb

phrases.
 Example
Not Parallel

• Initial trials showed that exposure to the

chemical caused memory problems,
intermittent dizziness, and deters sleep.
 Cont..
Parallel

. Initial trials showed that exposure to the

chemical caused …….
memory problems, intermittent dizziness,
and insomnia.
 Cont…

• As with a series of verbs, a series of verb

phrases should use parallel forms.
• Do not mix phrases based on an infinitive
with phrases based on -ing verbs.
 Example
Not Parallel

Her main duties were answering phone

calls, filing records, and to conduct visitor
surveys.
 Cont..
Parallel

Her main duties were answering phone

calls, filing records, and conducting visitor
surveys.
 Parallel Clause
Not Parallel

The report card stated that the student often

talked in class, that he bullied other students,
and rarely finished his homework.
 Cont..
Parallel
The report card stated that the student often
talked in class, that he bullied other students,
and that he rarely finished his homework.
OR
The report card stated that the student often
talked in class, bullied other students,
and rarely finished his homework.
 When Colon
• A list that follows a Colon should always have
parallel elements.
Not Parallel
Mainstream economists have attributed the
recession to several key causes: deregulation
policies, spike in interest rates, manufacturing
orders declining, and the emergence of asset
bubbles.
 Cont..
Parallel

Mainstream economists have attributed the

recession to several key causes: the
enactment of deregulation policies, the spike
in interest rates, the decline in manufacturing
orders, and the emergence of asset bubbles.
 Cont..
OR

Mainstream economists have attributed the

recession to several key causes: deregulation
policies, high interest rates, low
manufacturing orders, and asset bubbles.
 Parallelism in Pairs
• Use parallel construction when a sentence
contains a pair of connected ideas.

• Pairs can be connected by coordinating

conjunctions(FANBOYS).
 Examples
Not parallel
She planned to collect data by either using an
online survey or phone interviews.
Parallel
She planned to collect data by either using an
online survey or conducting phone interviews.
OR
She planned to collect data through either online
surveys or phone interviews.
 Cont..

• Use parallel structure when a pair of ideas

are linked by a correlative conjunction, such
as not only…but also, either…or,
and neither…nor.
 Example
Not Parallel

His paper argues that the distinctive

divergence in the two artists’ styles was not
only shaped by their mutual rivalry but
also because of the idiosyncratic tastes of
patrons.
 Cont..
Parallel

His paper argues that the distinctive

divergence in the two artists’ styles was
shaped not only by their mutual rivalry but
also by the idiosyncratic tastes of patrons.
 Cont..
• The same rule applies to pairs connected by a
word of comparison, such as over, than or as.
Not Parallel
He prefers movie nights at home over going to
loud house parties.
Parallel
He prefers movie nights at home over loud house
parties.
 Pronoun Agreement
The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun that
it refers back to. The antecedent is usually
mentioned in the text before the pronoun, but
sometimes it comes just after it in a sentence.

Pronouns must agree in number, gender, and

person with their antecedents.
 Cont..
When you use any type of pronoun, it’s
important to ensure that the antecedent is clear
and unambiguous. If there is any ambiguity, use
the noun instead.

After the interview and the written test were

complete, it was checked for incomplete answers.
Here it is unclear whether it refers to the
interview, the test, or both.
 Cont..
Corrected

After the interview and the written test were

complete, the test was checked for incomplete
answers.
 Examples
Incorrect:
Neither of my classmates are taking the trip this summer.
Correct:
Neither of my classmates is taking the trip this summer.

Illustration:
• If the subject of the sentence is a pronoun, that pronoun
needs to agree in number with the verb.
• In the sentence above, the pronoun neither is always
singular, and it should take the singular form of the verb:
 Example
Incorrect:
Everybody has been bringing in their own lunch lately.
Correct:
Everybody has been bringing in his or her own lunch lately.

Illustration
Pronouns should also agree with the antecedent in number,
gender, and person.
The indefinite pronoun everybody is always singular. The
pronoun their which refers back to its
Antecedent everybody also needs to be in the singular form. Here is
the corrected form of the above sentence
 Indefinite Pronoun Agreement
• Some indefinite pronouns are always singular:
Anybody, everybody, anyone, everyone, anything,
everything, another, each, either, neither, no
one, one, nobody, someone, somebody.
(a) Neither of the best players in the last
game was injured.
(b) Anyone of the guests is welcome to participate
in the raffle.
(c) Everyone has cast his or her vote.
 Cont..
• Some are always plural:
Both, Few, Several, Many

(a) Few of the days this spring have been above

50 degrees.
(b) Several of the participants shared their
personal experiences.
 Cont..
• And some can be both singular or
plural depending on the kind of noun they
refer to.
• All, Any, Most, None, Some
(a) None of the food has been left after the
party.
(b) None of the players have quit the team after
a difficult season.
 Relative Pronoun
• A relative pronoun is a pronoun that refers to
a noun preceding it in the sentence. This noun
is called its antecedent.
• Relative pronouns need to agree with their
antecedents in number. If the nouns relative
pronouns are referring to (antecedents) are
plural, then the plural form of the verb is used,
and if the noun is singular, then the singular
form of the verb is needed.
 Examples

• John was one of the players who were chosen

to play in the final game.

• John is the player who has scored in most of

the games.
 Agreement in Gender
• To avoid gender bias, it is best to use his or her in
such sentences.
Incorrect:
Each faculty member of the department is
encouraged to share his grant proposals with the
committee.
Correct:
Each faculty member of the department is
encouraged to share his or her grant proposals with
the committee.
 Agreement in Person

• A personal pronoun must also agree in

person with its antecedent.

• Pronouns one, everyone, everybody are third

person pronouns. They should be followed
by he, his, him or she, her, hers.
 Example
Incorrect:

One should carefully consider your choice of

major.

Correct:
One should carefully consider his or her choice
of major.