April 08, 2010

Grammar, Grace Kelly, and Parallel Style

Skillful writers can make grammar downright alluring:

“Rare beauty and stunning self-possession … propelled Grace Kelly into the Hollywood pantheon, onto the Best-Dressed List, and ultimately to Monaco’s royal palace …. As London’s Victoria and Albert Museum unveils an exhibition devoted to Kelly’s style, … the author looks at the intertwined qualities of an icon: white-gloved ingénue, elegant goddess, passionate—and frankly sexual—romantic.”

– Laura Jacobs, Vanity Fair, May 2010

These sentences contain a lot of information, but parallel grammar makes them easy to follow. In the first sentence, the author uses prepositions to guide the reader through three aspects of Grace Kelly’s life:

“into the Hollywood pantheon, onto the Best-Dressed List, and ultimately to Monaco’s royal palace.”

In this last sentence, the author pairs a series of adjectives (in orange) with nouns (underlined):

“the intertwined qualities of an icon: white-gloved ingénue, elegant goddess, passionate—and frankly sexual—romantic.”

It pays to think about grammar whenever you write out a list of things or ideas. Parallel grammar keeps your sentences energetic and streamlined, and helps you project a professional image.

•

For more guidelines on parallel structure in sentences and lists, see our updated book Professional Writing Skills: A Write It Well Guide. Also look for our book Essential Grammar: A Write It Well Guide, which will ship later this summer!