The rules
- Items in a list or series take the same grammatical form: to read, to write, and to count, not to read, to write, and counting.
- Paired conjunctions (not only … but also, both … and, either … or, whether … or) must be followed by the same kind of word or phrase on each side: both for her research and for her teaching.
- Place the first half of a pair directly before the part it pairs, not earlier: used the stars not only to tell time but also to predict floods, not not only used the stars to tell time but also to predict floods.
- Rather than and as well as join matching forms, so match the verb or noun before them: chose to walk rather than ride.
- When two clauses follow the same verb, repeat that or to before the second for clarity: She said that the lab was closed and that the test would wait.
- Repeat a preposition or article when leaving it out could make the reader attach words to the wrong place: grateful to the guides who led her and to the porters.
- Verbs that share a subject in a series keep the same form and tense, and a new subject needs its own clause: the air warms, rises, and is replaced, not the air warms, rises, and cool air replaces it.
This time: 0 right, 0 wrong