The tab marked Properties allows users to configure the modem s settings.
Parallelism
Parallelism is a phenomenon which is widely recognised as a fundamental
issue in sentence structure (D’Agenais & Carruthers 1985:104; Mancuso
1990:231; White 1996:182). Essentially, parallelism means that parts of a
sentence which are similar, or parallel, in meaning should be parallel in
structure. Parallel constructions can also be described as instances where
two or more groups of words share the same pattern (White 1996:182).
Thus, we can see that parallelism can occur on both a sentence level and on
a sub-sentence level. The following sentences illustrate parallelism.
If you want to open a file, click Open.
Parallelism can also occur in lists as shown below:
To connect to the Internet you will need:
When there is a lack of parallelism, some of the grammatical elements in a
sentence do not balance with the other elements in the sentence or another
sentence. What makes this undesirable, apart from potential grammatical er-
rors, is that it distracts the reader and prevents the message from being read
quickly and clearly (Mancuso 1990:232).
Returning to the examples of parallel constructions given above, we can
illustrate how a lack of parallelism can affect the clarity and readability of a
section of text. What were once clear sentences, become the following
confusing examples:
88
To conf igure the modem settings, click the Properties tab.
as
If you want to close a file, click Close.
-
a modem to connect to your PC
-
drivers for your modem
-
a telephone line
-
a dial-up account from an ISP
,
Software User Guides & Quality
If you want to open a file, click Open.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
