A photograph of two identical bridges being built over a body of water

Source: Replacement Bridge, vasilken, Flickr

You have practiced identifying parallels and identifying places where parallel constructions could be used. Now, it’s time to create some parallel constructions on your own.

In your notes, revise the following passages (all rewritten from the writing of professional writers) by creating parallel constructions for the sections marked with brackets. After you have written a possible revision, check your understanding to see the quotation by the professional. (Don’t worry if you came up with something slightly different from the quotation. Who knows? Yours might be better.)

Collage of five photos. 1. A photograph of an old car viewed form the front. 2. A photograph of two people engaged in some business endeavor. They are smiling and appear to be friendly towards one another. 3. A photograph of three young women that appear to be good friends 4. A photograph of several people walking together 5. A photographic image of a sad or angry eye

Image sources, left to right: (1) Old Ford Car, bettlebrox, Flickr, (2) Businesswoman consulting a partner, inlingual
Manchester, Flickr, (3) Best Pals :), KeizGoesBoom, Flickr, (4) sad eye, Hjern, Flickr, (5) Everyone Left, Tojosan, Flickr

Age appears best in four things: [old wood for burning, old wine you are going to drink, old trusted friends, and old authors whose books you can read].
Hint: Start each part with “old” and use infinitives after the nouns.

Check Your Understanding

Sample Response:
The quotation from the professional: “Age appears best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and old authors to read.” — Francis Bacon

The parallel expression is composed of four nouns (“wood,” “wine,” “friends,” and “authors”) modified by “old” plus an infinitive (“to burn,” “to drink,” “to trust,” and “to read”).
A friendship founded on [doing business with someone] is better than a business founded on [the fact that you are friends with someone].
Hint: Reduce each bracketed part to one word.

Check Your Understanding

Sample Response:
The quotation from the professional: “A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.” —John D. Rockefeller Jr.

The parallel expression is composed of a verb (“founded”) and preposition (“on”) with parallel nouns as the objects of the preposition. This is a second example of an inverted parallel. Do you remember the one in a previous section about Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen?
[Having joys that you share] make a friend, not [when you share sufferings].
Hint: Use a past participle modifying a plural noun in each bracket.

Check Your Understanding

Sample Response:
The quotation from the professional: “Shared joys make a friend, not shared sufferings.”— Friedrich Nietzsche

The parallel expressions are composed of past participles (“Shared” and “shared”) modifying plural nouns (“joys” and “sufferings”).
[If you walk behind me, I may end up not leading you.] [When you walk in front of me, there is a good chance I won’t follow.] Just walk beside me and be my friend.
Hint: Start each bracketed part with “Don’t.” Since each bracketed part has two clauses, use a semicolon to join the first clause (the quotation that begins with “Don’t”) to the second (the reason).

Check Your Understanding

Sample Response:
The quotation from the professional: “Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”—Albert Camus

Each of the parallel expressions is composed of an imperative + verb + prepositional phrase connected with a semicolon to a simple subject + verb clause.
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; [a wild beast may wound you physically, but you can be harmed mentally by an evil friend].
Hint: Use “wound” as the verb in both parts and add a direct object including the possessive pronoun “your.” Also, line up the structures so that both parts have subjects that are nouns modified by one adjective.

Check Your Understanding

Sample Response:
The quotation from the professional: “An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.”—Buddha

The parallel expressions are composed of a noun phrase as subject + a verb phrase (“may wound” and “will wound”) + a direct object that begins with “your.”