Example Sentences

A participle is a verbal that ends with either -ed, -en, or -ing and acts as an adjective modifying a noun.

Examples: broken glass, added words, falling rocks

However, be wary of a verbal that ends in -ing but isn't a participle - it is called a gerund, and it functions as a noun. (e.g. Jumping rope is fun.)

Also, some sentences are written in the passive voice. This does not represent a participle, but a past participle in the passive voice, with the doer of the action unknown.

Example : Gasoline is dispensed through the nozzle.

Physics and Geometry

It is when two rays or a line segment can go on and on without touching.

Parallelism refers to sentence structures that include similar word or phrase patterns.

Sentence and list structure

Parallelism is about consistency, and having all the parts in the same form.

In a sentence, compound verbs or other words should be in the same form.

Example : "He sang and was dancing all night" is improper if you actually mean "He was singing and dancing all night". Similarly, "He had finished and went upstairs" mixes two different tenses, and is improved as "He finished and went upstairs" or "He had finished and gone upstairs".

A things-to-do list might read :

Reading to the kids at the library

Singing with the choir

Make sure to buy MILK!!!

Volunteering at the hospital

Parallelism would require changing the third item to "Buying Milk (remember!). You retain the meaning, and have made your list parallel in structure.