Parallel structure

According to Purdue OWL, parallel structure means using a "similar pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance." This creates balance and a harmonious sentence structure. Notice how clunky the following sentences sound before they are made parallel?

Noun Phrases, Infinitives, and Gerunds 

He wanted three things out of college: to learn a skill, to make good friends, and learning about life. 

He wanted three things out of college: to learn a skill, make good friends, and learn about life. 

Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle. 

Mary likes hiking, swimming, and riding a bicycle. 

Adjectives 

We found the film repulsive, offensive, and we thought it was embarrassing. 

We found the film repulsive, offensive, and embarrassing.

Clauses 

The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game.

The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not eat too much, and do some warm-up exercises before the game. 


This exercise in parallelism comes from my Technical and Scientific Editing class with Dr. Scott Lunsford.

Lay vs. lie

I needed some help from Grammar Girl for explaining the differences here. 

In the present tense, "lay"requires a direct object and "lie" does not. For example, you lie on the sofa (no direct object), but you lay the book on the table (the book is the direct object). 

Grammar Girl's trick to remembering this: Think of the phrase "lay it on me." You're laying something (the direct object) on me. Just remember, in the present tense, you lay something down, and people lie down by themselves. 

Easy enough, right?

Well, not so fast. The tricky part is that "lay" is the past tense of "lie." Lucky for us, Grammar Girl created a table to help conjugate "lay" and "lie."

Image source

Here are some examples that follow the chart.

For "lay"(direct object):

Present tense: I lay the book down.

Past tense: I laid the book down. 

Past participle: I had laid the book down. 

For "lie" (no direct object):

Present tense: I lie in the sun. 

Past tense: When I came to the apartment, I lay down.

Past participle: Before I took the test, I had lain down for five hours. 

Hopefully this lesson helps clear up any confusion between using "lay" or "lie." 

Active voice vs. passive voice

It can sometimes be tricky to distinguish between active and passive voice and when it is appropriate to use either option. The active voice forms sentences in a natural, conversational structure. It is direct, strong, concise, and definite. The passive voice is indirect, usually weak, often wordy, and frequently indefinite.

Note that in these two sentences, the active voice requires only five words, while the passive voice requires seven words.

• In the active voice, the actor performs the action.
• In the passive voice, the action is performed by the actor. 

Because it is direct and forceful, the active voice sounds lively and urgent. 

• Active: Rain and snow slashed through the city tonight. 
• Passive: The city was sent reeling by rain and snow tonight. 

The active voice also discourages wordiness. 

• Passive: A roar emerged from the crowd. 
• Active: The crowd roared. 

When we write in the passive voice, we sometimes eliminate the actor. We call such sentences phantom sentences; the actor is a phantom:

• Passive: A beer bottle containing gasoline was thrown through a window into a classroom of a local high school today. 

We should try to determine who committed the act and include them in the sentence. Were they pranksters, vandals, troublemakers, rioters or agitators?

• Active: Rioters threw beer bottles filled with gasoline through a classroom window at the local high school today. 

A helpful hint: Don't confuse the passive voice with past tense. Voice relates to either performing or receiving an action. Tense tells us the time of the action. 

This lesson is courtesy of JMU Media Arts and Design Professor Mike Grundmann, who adapted it from an exercise out of Workbook for Radio and Television Reporting by Roy Gibson, Allyn and Bacon, 1990. 

Purdue OWL

Need to figure out how to properly cite an Internet article with no author? What about a scholarly journal article with multiple authors? How do you format a bibliography in MLA style?

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is an excellent online resource to help with those questions and more.

This resource has helped me with conducting research and distinguishing between primary sources, such as interviews and observations, and secondary sources, such as scholarly articles, books, and websites. It also includes help with quoting and paraphrasing those sources, as well as tips on how to avoid plagiarism.

But the best part about this resource? It includes information about APA, MLA, and the Chicago Manual of Style. It's the best of all worlds.

Think of this as the go-to for all of your research, format, and citation needs.

Who vs. whom

Deciding whether to use "who" or "whom" in your writing can sometimes be tricky and lead to second-guessing yourself. To avoid that, here's a trick from Grammar Girl about how to figure out when to use "who" or "whom" correctly.

Like the word "whom," the pronoun "him" ends with "m." When you need to figure out whether to use "who" or "whom," there's a simple question you need to ask: Is the answer to the answer to the question "he" or "him"?

For example, if you ask, "Who (or whom) did you make dinner for?" The answer would be "I made dinner for him." Since "him" ends with an "m," you would use "whom."

If you ask, "Who (or whom) ate dinner with you?" the answer would be "He ate dinner with me." Here there's no "m," so you know to use "who."

Easy, right?

That Which is Correct

The words "that" and "which" are often used incorrectly. In order to understand which of the two you're supposed to use, ask yourself if the clause is essential or non-essential. In other words, does the clause just elaborate something or does it define it?

For example:

Which:

The song, which was just recently released, has already soared to number one on the charts.

The phrase, "which was just recently released," is non-essential. If you remove it, there wouldn't be any confusion about the song. The clause just adds elaboration to the sentence.

That:

The song that was just released has already soared to number one on the charts.

The phrase "that was just released" is essential. The person is talking about this song rather than just any song. This clause doesn't just elaborate; it's essential to defining which song the speaker means. When it's removed, the sentence loses its meaning.

Hint: Commas usually surround clauses "which" phrases. 

Getting Rid of the Fluff

While I do enjoy expanding my vocabulary (sometimes done by right-clicking in Microsoft Word and choosing a fancy synonym) in papers and essays, AP style states writers should use clear, simple words and phrases. We call this getting rid of the fluff. In news writing, there is no room for bloated articles bogged down by fluffy writing. Most beginners have a tendency to incorporate every single detail into an article, which weighs the story down. Most articles can be "trimmed of the fat," some drastically so, without losing any meaning.

In the following list, the fluffy word or phrase is on the left. The better choice is on the right. 

inquire ask
beverage drink 
conceal hide 
depart leave
possess have 
utilize use
currently now 
funds money 
ponder think
purchase buy
finalize finish
inform tell 
outcome end
as a general rule generally 
in the absence of without
in the event that if 
a large number of many
at this point in time now 
over and over again repeatedly 
for the purpose of because

Why use more words than necessary to get your point across? 

This exercise is courtesy of JMU Media Arts and Design Professor Mike Grundmann.