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Parallelism is achieving balance in sentences. When you present similar
points in a sentence, those points should have similar structure. This means
that if you have a list of adjectives, that each word you use in the list is
an adjective. If you are presenting a series of verbs, the verbs all use the
same form and tense. When sentences aren't parallel they are often very
awkward and difficult to read. Readers should not be distracted from the
meaning of your writing because your sentences aren't understandable.
Parallelism is achieved by finding the list within a sentence and then
checking to see what type of structure best suits your meaning. Sometimes a
preposition can introduce a list of three objects; at other times, each object
will need its own preposition. You make those decisions when you evaluate the
sentence you are trying to make parallel.