Question

Which sentence best uses parallel structure? My sisters are all artistic—Patricia writes, Mary sculpts, and Elizabeth composes. My sisters are all artistic—Patricia writes poetry, Mary sculpts, and Elizabeth composes music. My sisters are all artistic—Patricia is a poet, Mary makes sculptures, and Elizabeth composes music. My sisters are all artistic—Patricia creates poems, Mary creates sculptures, and Elizabeth is a composer.

Answer 1

My sisters are all artistic—Patricia writes, Mary sculpts, and Elizabeth composes.

Parallel structure is when the items in a list are all written in the same grammatical structure. In the correct answer (A), the grammatical structure of the list is Subject-Verb. Option B is not correct because the first and third items of the list are written Subject-Verb-Direct Object, but the second item is only Subject-Verb. Option C is in correct because the first item says what Patricia is and the last two items say what the girls do. This is also the reason option D is wrong. The first two items in the list tell what the two girls create while the last item says what Elizabeth is.

Answer 2

Answer: A) My sisters are all artistic—Patricia writes, Mary sculpts, and Elizabeth composes.