ACT English — parallel structure and paired conjunctions

Parallel structure is the rule that things joined together should have the same shape: verb with verb, adjective with adjective, "how to" with "how to." Most readers feel it without being able to name it, which is exactly why the ACT tests it. A list that ends with "and they were painting the barn" after "cleared the brush, repaired the fence" sounds slightly off, and the question asks you to say precisely what is off and fix it.

The twelve original sentences here cover the forms the English section uses. Four are lists: three "how to" phrases, three past-tense verbs, three adjectives, and one list that is already correct, where NO CHANGE is the answer. Six are paired conjunctions, which carry a stricter version of the rule: the words after "not only" must match the words after "but also," and the same goes for either/or, neither/nor, both/and and whether/or. One of them is already correct, and two turn on placement rather than choice of word, "apply either online or by mail" rather than "either apply online or by mail," which is the form students most often miss. The last two set like against like in a comparison and a contrast: riding against driving, and knowing against applying.

Each explanation shows the pattern the sentence has set up and checks every choice against it, naming wrong options by what they say. On the real test the sentences sit inside longer passages with a portion underlined; here each question prints its own sentence with the portion in square brackets, and NO CHANGE is one of the four choices, as it is on the test.

The flashcards give a quick test for any list (read each item straight after the words that introduce it), the five correlative pairs and where each word must stand, and the most common trap: a final item that adds a new subject or tense.

The material offers a multiple-choice quiz and a deck of flashcards. Parallel structure belongs to Conventions of Standard English, one of the three reporting categories of the English section. Zestly is an independent study tool; this practice material is not produced, affiliated with or endorsed by ACT, Inc., which owns the ACT.

• Recognize when items in a list or series break a shared grammatical form
• Complete not only/but also, either/or, neither/nor, both/and and whether/or correctly
• Place a correlative conjunction directly before the elements it pairs
• Keep both sides of a comparison in the same form
• Recognize a sentence that is already parallel and choose NO CHANGE

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the reporting categories in ACT's public description of the English section of the enhanced ACT (Conventions of Standard English). Every sentence, essay, option and explanation is original; nothing is reproduced from any ACT publication or released test.