SC guide 4th edition CH 11 parallelism

[itzdeepika]

In the example :
The bouquet of flowers was a giving of love.
I am not able to understand why the above sentence is wrong. Can somebody please explain.
Thanks in advance.

[ps63739]

'bouquet of flowers' and 'a giving of love.' doesn't seem to be logically connected. And this sentence makes them like a like.

[StaceyKoprince]

The word "giving" can be a special type of noun called a gerund. Gerunds usually indicate some type of action (for instance, "giving" is an action). "Bouquet" is just a regular noun, representing an object.

For the best parallelism, we should have two regular nouns or two gerunds. It's okay sometimes to have a regular noun and a gerund, but only if there isn't a way to have the two in the same form.

In this case, there is a way to transform the gerund into a regular noun: the word "gift" can take the place of giving.

The bouquet of flowers was a gift of love.

That's more parallel because the two nouns are both regular nouns representing objects or things.

(Note: for others who may be wondering, parallelism is required in this instance because we have what's called a "linking" verb in the sentence. Linking verbs indicate what the subject is or what condition the subject is in.)

[lesnin]

Hi Stacy,

I do have a question with regard to this issue.
I am aware the following:

1.) action noun can be made parallel to another action noun
2.) concrete noun can be made parallel to another concrete noun.
3.) action noun can be made parallel to a complex gerund
4.) A simple gerund can be made parallel to another simple gerund.

However,

1.) A simple gerund cannot be made parallel to a complex gerund
2.) An action noun cannot be made parallel to a concrete noun.


Now keeping the above in mind; i have a query on the following.

Wrong :The rebels demanded the withdrawal of government forces from disputed regions, significant reductions in overa ll troop levels, raising the rebel flag on holidays, AND a general pardon.

Now since Withdrawal, reductions, and pardon are all action nouns, the following is correct.

Right: The rebels demanded the withdrawal of government forces from disputed regions, significant reductions in overall troop levels, THE raising OF the rebel flag on holidays, AND a general pardon.


However, my question is that would it be correct to write the following statement.

Right: The rebels demanded withdrawal of government forces from disputed regions, reductions in overall troop levels, THE raising OF the rebel flag on holidays, AND pardon.

Here I have only removed the adjectives for the action nouns and merely left the action nouns and made it parallel to the complex gerund phrase.

Let me know your thoughts on the same.

Thanks,
Lobo.

[tim]

you can demand withdrawal

you can demand reductions

you cannot demand pardon

the "pardon" requires an "a" in front of it for this reason, even though the others don't require an adjective..