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Faulty parallelism occurs when the elements put into pairs and series "go in different directions" because they do not have the same form. In other words, nouns should be coordinated with nouns, verbs with verbs, adjectives with adjectives, adverbs with adverbs, phrases with phrases, and clauses with clauses. To check for faulty parallelism it is often useful to underline or otherwise mark parallel (coordinate) elements. Following are three common types of faulty parallelism: faulty pairs, the shifted series, and the "and who" or "and which" construction.
Faulty Pairs:
Faulty: Few people were aware of his fear or how unhappy he was. (noun with noun clause)
Correct: Few people were aware of his fear or his deep unhappiness. (noun with noun)
Correct: Few people were aware of how much fear he felt or how unhappy he was. (clause with clause )
Correct: Few people were aware of how fearful and unhappy he was. (adjective with adjective)
Faulty: Sam won applause from his audience with "Happy Days Are Here Again" and singing other old, familiar songs. (noun [= song title] with ing-form and its object)
(ing-form and object with ing-form and object)Correct: Sam won applause from his audience by singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" and playing other old, familiar songs.
Correct: Sam won applause from his audience by singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" and other old, familiar songs. (noun with noun)
Faulty: George's report of the meeting was unclear, biased, and shouldn't have been printed. (adjective with adjective with verb)
Correct: George's report of the meeting was unclear and biased, and it shouldn't have been with printed. (adjective with adjective and clause with clause)
Faulty: Many students take up a sport for fun, relaxing, and so they can lose weight. (noun with ing-form with clause)
Correct: Many students take up a sport for fun and relaxation and for the purpose of losing weight. (noun with noun and phrase with phrase)
Correct: Many students take up a sport to have fun, to relax, and to lose weight. (infinitive with infinitive with infinitive)
Correct: Many students take up a sport so that they can have fun, relax, and lose weight. (verb with verb with verb)
Faulty: Bill's roommate is tall, handsome, athletic, and has large feet. (adjective with adjective with adjective with verb)
Correct: Bill's roommate is tall, handsome, and athletic, and he has large feet. (adjective with adjective with adjective; clause with clause)
The "And Who" or "And Which" Construction:
Faulty: Mary is a person with great creativity and who should be asked to help with the program. (phrase with clause)
Correct: Mary has great creativity and should be asked to help with the program. (verb with verb)
Correct: Mary is a person with great creativity, and she should be asked to help with the program. (clause with clause)
Correct: Mary is a person with great creativity who should be asked to help with the program. (no parallelism)
Faulty: That barn is a building having enough room to stable twelve horses and which was built by my great grandfather. (participial phrase with clause)
Correct: That barn is a building having enough room to stable twelve horses which was built by my great grandfather. (no parallelism)
Correct: That barn with enough room to stable twelve horses was built by my great grandfather. (no parallelism)