SAT Mc Graw Hill 2011

Lesson 3: Parallelism

520 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT

I like pizza. I like to swim. I like swimming.

What kind of word is pizza? Obviously a noun. But

notice that in the sentences above, to swim(infinitive)

andswimming(gerund) are playing the same role as

pizzadid in the first sentence. So they must be nouns

too!

Usually, gerunds and infinitives are inter-

changeable. But in some situations, one is

preferable to the other.

• The gerund often indicates a general classof ac-
  tivity, while the infinitive indicates a specific
  activity.
  Good: Kayaking(not to kayak) is a
  healthful sport, but can some-
  times be dangerous.
  Good: Curtis and Dan wantto kayak
  (notkayaking)this afternoon.


• The infinitive indicates a stronger connection
  between subject and action than does the
  gerund.
  Unclear: Cara has always loveddancing.
  Does Cara simply like to watch dancing, or
  does she herself do the dancing?
  Clearer: Cara has always lovedto dance.
  This sentence clearly indicates that Cara
  herself dances.


• The infinitive often indicates purpose or inten-
  tionbetter than does the gerund.
  Awkward: We have supplied carsfor trans-
  portingthe guests back to their
  hotel rooms.
  Better: We have supplied carsto trans-
  portthe guests back to their hotel
  rooms.

The Law of Parallelism

When you compareor list items in a sentence,

the items should have the same grammatical

form. That is, if the first item is an infinitive (or

a gerund, or an adjective, etc.), the other

item(s) should be, too.

Wrong: She hatedto takecharge,drawat-

tention to herself, andshe hated

seeminglike a know-it-all.

The three items have different forms. The sen-

tence sounds best if they are all gerunds.

Right: She hatedtakingcharge,drawing

attention to herself, andseeming

like a know-it-all.

Wrong: Believe it or not, I liketo read more

than I likegoingto parties.

The first item is an infinitive, but the second is

agerund. Make them the same form.

Right: Believe it or not, I like to read more

than I liketo goto parties.

Also right: Believe it or not, I likereadingmore

than I likegoingto parties.

Parallel Constructions

In all constructions like the following, the

words or phrases that replace AandBmust be

parallel.

A is like B A more than B prefer A to B

neither A nor B either A or B both A and B

the more A, the better A, not only A,

the less B the better B but also B

not A but B less A than B more A than B

Infinitives vs. Gerunds

Infinitivesare verblike phrases like to run, to see,and
to think,which usually act as nouns.
Gerundsare also verblike words, like running, see-
ing,andthinking,and they also often act as nouns.