Developing sentences with parallel structure is a challenge for some students, and SAT test makers will definitely pick up on these flaws in the written portion. When stating your ideas, be sure that lists and multiple ideas mirror each other. Each element presented in a list should be uniform in structure. For example: The kids enjoyed going to the fair, dancing at the disco, and they liked attending concerts. Now we view each group of words in that statement as its own separate element:

 

Element 1- going to the fair

Element 2- dancing at the disco

Element 3- they liked attending concerts

 

Can you discern which of these elements does not fit with the others? That’s right; Element 3 contains an entire independent clause that the other two elements do not. Fixing this sentence error is simple, just change element 3 to match the other two. Simply drop the phrase “they liked” to make an agreeable parallel structure. The correct sentence should read: The kids enjoyed going to the fair, dancing at the disco, and attending concerts.