Parallelism

Question

I went to N.Y. for vacation last week and to see my mother.I'd like to know whether "to N.Y. for vacation last week" and "to see my mother" form the parallelism.Thank you in advance for your help.

Doctor D · Accepted Answer

The short answer is no. The repeated use of "to" ("to N.Y." and "to see") is a coincidence and does not make the sentence grammatically parallel In this case, what you want in parallel are the two reasons you went to New York. One was for a vacation. One was to see your mother. To put this in a parallel form, I would say:

Last week I went to New York City to take a vacation and to see my mother.

Clear?

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Doctor D, for your detailed answer.

Yes, I see.
Then, is my example ungrammatical?

Doctor D · Answer

No, not ungrammatical, but not in parallel form either. The only grammatical correction I would make to your original sentence is to say that you went to New York for a vacation.

Perfect Stranger · Answer

If I may, I'd like to ask one question... What's the purpose of parallelism?

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Doctor D, for your continuing support.

Then, I'd like to how I can employ "and" without "parallelism."

Doctor D · Answer

Besides giving a nice rhythmic cadence to your writing, parallel construction helps make your meaning clear. It is especially helpful in organizing long, complex sentences. Even shorter sentences can lose their awkwardness when put in parallel form.

Here is an example from one of my grammar books.

Not parallel:
People begin to feel as though they have no faces and insignificant.
The writer is using an adverb clause ("as though they have no faces") and an adjective ("insignificant"). Very awkwardly expressed.

In parallel form:
People begin to feel faceless and insignificant.
The writer is using two adjectives instead.

I hope this helps.

Parallelism

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