Question

exercise 2
directions: write the sentences below, fixing any errors that you find in parallel structure.

1. pancakes dripping with syrup, coffee steaming in big mugs, and bacon frying on the stove make breakfast at grandma’s house a real treat.
2. le’ron scowled at professor nguyen, was muttering under his breath, and sighed heavily, but in truth he loved taking algebra exams.
3. at the family reunion, we ate grandma’s barbecued ribs, aunt sally’s potato salad, and heaping plates of jiggling banana jell-o prepared by cousin sue.
4. during the exam, mary sucked the ends of her hair, chewed the top of her pencil, and all the while she was picking at a scab on her elbow, but she could not remember the third cause of the french revolution.
5. frances searched the car trunk, on the pantry shelves, and the top of the refrigerator, but she could not find the box of cornflakes that she did remember buying.

Explanation:

1.

Step1: Analyze parallel structure

The original sentence has three noun phrases with present - participle modifiers. The structure is already parallel as "Pancakes dripping with syrup", "coffee steaming in big mugs", and "bacon frying on the stove" all follow the pattern of [noun] + [present - participle phrase]. So the correct sentence is: Pancakes dripping with syrup, coffee steaming in big mugs, and bacon frying on the stove make breakfast at Grandma’s house a real treat.

2.

Step1: Analyze verb forms for parallelism

The first verb "scowled" is in simple past, "was muttering" is in past continuous, and "sighed" is in simple past. To make the structure parallel, we should use simple past for all the verbs related to Le'Ron's actions.

Step2: Rewrite the sentence

Change "was muttering" to "muttered". The correct sentence is: Le’Ron scowled at Professor Nguyen, muttered under his breath, and sighed heavily, but in truth he loved taking algebra exams.

3.

Step1: Analyze noun - phrase structure for parallelism

The first two items are in the form of [possessive noun] + [noun], and the third item is "heaping plates of jiggling banana Jell - O prepared by Cousin Sue". We can rewrite the third item to match the pattern of the first two.

Step2: Rewrite the sentence

Change "heaping plates of jiggling banana Jell - O prepared by Cousin Sue" to "Cousin Sue’s heaping plates of jiggling banana Jell - O". The correct sentence is: At the family reunion, we ate Grandma’s barbecued ribs, Aunt Sally’s potato salad, and Cousin Sue’s heaping plates of jiggling banana Jell - O.

4.

Answer:

s:

1. Pancakes dripping with syrup, coffee steaming in big mugs, and bacon frying on the stove make breakfast at Grandma’s house a real treat.
2. Le’Ron scowled at Professor Nguyen, muttered under his breath, and sighed heavily, but in truth he loved taking algebra exams.
3. At the family reunion, we ate Grandma’s barbecued ribs, Aunt Sally’s potato salad, and Cousin Sue’s heaping plates of jiggling banana Jell - O.
4. During the exam, Mary sucked the ends of her hair, chewed the top of her pencil, and all the while picked at a scab on her elbow, but she could not remember the third cause of the French Revolution.
5. Frances searched the car trunk, the pantry shelves, and the top of the refrigerator, but she could not find the box of cornflakes that she did remember buying. (or Frances searched in the car trunk, on the pantry shelves, and on the top of the refrigerator, but she could not find the box of cornflakes that she did remember buying.)