<p>Is parallelism a standard grammar rule to go by?</p>
<p>If a sentence has faulty parallel construction on the SATs, is it incorrect?</p>
<p>Parallelism is a grammatical standard; it is way to add "spice" to your writing, it is a way to pound your influence repeatedly into the reader, it is a rhetorical strategy meant to ameliorate the sad and unimportant ideas that amateur writers use in their compositions.</p>
<p>But it won't save you any money on car insurance.</p>
<p>Using it incorrectly can make your writing appear very elementary and immature.</p>
<p>And, yes, if you didn't get it from biomaster's very clear and concise explanation :), if the sentence has faulty parallel construction, it's incorrect.</p>
<p>Thanks alot!</p>
<p>can u shift tenses in a sentence?</p>
<p>I think you can, if you use a conjunction/semicolon to connect two seperate clauses. However, I don't think you can shift tenses in a clause.</p>
<p>2.1.2 Verb Tense
Unless your meaning changes its time frame, keep your verb tenses consistent. </p>
<p>[x] I saw some friends by the waterfall and I'm walking toward them when suddenly my clothes go floating down the stream.</p>
<p>I saw some friends by the waterfall, and was walking toward them when suddenly my clothes went floating down the stream.</p>