Spit, drool, and slurp are parallel activities. They should be expressed in the
same way:
Correct: Michael likes spitting, drooling, and slurping.
Correct: Michael likes to spit, to drool, and to slurp.
Correct: Michael likes to spit, drool, and slurp.
Michael, you’re disgusting! Stay away from us!Example 2:
Paul likes spitting and drooling but not to slurp.
Even though Paul doesn’t like slurping, it should still be parallel with spitting
and drooling, which he does like. (Why, we do not know.)
Correct: Paul likes spitting and drooling but not slurping.
Example 3:
Let’s do this SAT-style.
The juicer chops vegetables, squeezes oranges, and proctors can be
liquefied with it.The underlined portion above should be replaced with:
A) NO CHANGE
B) and liquefies proctors.
C) and proctor liquefaction.
D) and proctors can liquefy themselves with it.Chopping vegetables, squeezing oranges, and liquefying proctors are all
parallel actions. They should be expressed in the same way. The correct answer
is B: The juicer chops vegetables, squeezes oranges, and liquefies proctors.
COMMANDMENT 8: THOU SHALT NOT ALLOW THY SENTENCES TO RUN ON, NOR SHALT
THOU FRAGMENT THEM.
A run-on sentence is usually two complete sentences that are incorrectly joined
by a comma instead of separated by a period or a semicolon.