Rule

Items in a series should have the same grammatical form.

Question

Choose the sentence that uses parallel structure.

Options

• (A) The coach told the players to arrive early, wearing their uniforms, and bringing water.
• (B) The coach told the players to arrive early, wear their uniforms, and to bring water.
• (C) The coach told the players to arrive early, to wear their uniforms, and to bring water.
• (D) The coach told the players to arrive early, to wear their uniforms, and that they bring water.

Answer

(C) The coach told the players to arrive early, to wear their uniforms, and to bring water.

Solution

1. The first item is to arrive early, so every item in the list should begin with to plus a verb.
2. Option C gives to arrive, to wear, and to bring, which are all the same form.
3. Option A mixes to and -ing forms, option B drops to in the middle, and option D ends with a clause instead of a phrase.