5 Types of Parallelism and Examples

Example of Zeugma

We were partners, not soul mates, two separate people who happened to be |sharing| a menu and a life.

Antithesis

two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect

Chiasmus

two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their grammatical structures (not necessarily words)

Example of Antimetabole

|Eat to live, not live to eat|.

Example of Anaphora

|Every| day, |every| night, in |every| way, I am getting better and better.

Example of Antithesis

|Man proposes, God disposes.|

Example of Anaphora

|My life| is my purpose. |My life| is my goal. |My life| is my inspiration.

Example of Antithesis

|Speech is silver|, but |silence is gold|.

Example of Antimetabole

|We do what we like and we like what we do.|

Example of Chiasmus

A paradox was born: The |corn| was full of |kernals| And the |colonels| full of |corn|

Example of Chiasmus

But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er Who |dotes|, yet |doubts|; |suspects|, yet |strongly loves|.

Example of Zeugma

He was alternately |cudgeling| his brains and his donkey when...

Example of Antimetabole

In America, you can |always find a party|. In Soviet Russia, |Party always finds you!|

Example of Chiasmus

Never let a |fool kiss| you or a |kiss fool| you (Fool: noun → verb) (Kiss: verb → noun)

Example of Antithesis

Setting foot on the moon may be a |small step for a man |but a |giant step for mankind|.

Example of Zeugma

She lowered her standards by |raising| her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes.

Example of Antithesis

You are |easy| on the |eyes|, but |hard| on the |heart|.

Zeugma

a verb or an adjective applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas

Anaphora

deliberate repetition of the fist part of the sentence

Antimetabole

repeats a phrase in reverse order