Parallelism gives coordinated ideas comparable grammatical shapes: noun phrase with noun phrase, infinitive with infinitive, finite clause with finite clause. This correspondence helps the reader see which ideas belong together. It also creates balance—the controlled distribution of length, stress, and information across a sentence.
Parallel does not mean mechanically identical. Catalan permits ellipsis, subject omission, clitic pronouns, and meaningful reordering. Good parallelism preserves the same syntactic relation while allowing those resources to keep the sentence natural.
Match both category and function
The safest coordination joins constituents of the same category that perform the same function. In the next sentence, three infinitive phrases fall under the same impersonal frame headed by cal:
Cal revisar les dades, corregir els gràfics i explicar les discrepàncies.
We need to review the data, correct the charts, and explain the discrepancies.
Its structure is [cal [infinitive phrase] + [infinitive phrase] + [infinitive phrase]]. Replacing the final infinitive with a finite clause destroys that shared frame:
❌ Cal revisar les dades, corregir els gràfics i que expliquem les discrepàncies.
Incorrect — the list shifts from infinitives to a finite 'que' clause.
✅ Cal que revisem les dades, que corregim els gràfics i que expliquem les discrepàncies.
We need to review the data, correct the charts, and explain the discrepancies.
Both corrected versions are possible. The choice is not between “right Catalan” and “wrong Catalan,” but between two complete architectures. English allows some mixed lists more readily; in careful Catalan prose, making the shared architecture visible reduces processing effort.
| Shared frame | Balanced continuation | Typical problem |
|---|---|---|
| vol... | escoltar, negociar i acordar | Switching to que + finite verb |
| no sols..., sinó també... | Two equivalent phrases or clauses | Placing no sols around the wrong constituent |
| tant... com... | Two equivalent constituents | Comparing an agent with an action |
| d'una banda...; de l'altra... | Two comparable claims | Giving one side much wider scope |
Correlative pairs reveal their scope
Correlatives such as tant... com..., no només/no sols... sinó (també)... and d'una banda... de l'altra... tell readers exactly which units to compare. Put the first marker immediately before the first unit in its scope.
La proposta beneficia tant les cooperatives petites com les empreses familiars.
The proposal benefits both small cooperatives and family businesses.
El canvi no sols reduirà les cues, sinó que també simplificarà els tràmits.
The change will not only shorten the queues but will also simplify the procedures.
In the second example, two finite verb phrases are balanced. If the contrast concerns objects instead, the marker moves:
El canvi simplificarà no sols els tràmits urgents, sinó també les sol·licituds ordinàries.
The change will simplify not only urgent procedures but also ordinary applications.
This is a scope distinction. No sols before the verb contrasts actions; before the object, it contrasts objects. Punctuation can display the contrast, but it cannot repair a marker attached to the wrong constituent.
Agreement follows the whole coordination
Two singular noun phrases joined by i normally form a plural subject. Their shared predicate therefore takes plural agreement:
La precisió de les dades i la claredat de l'informe són essencials.
The accuracy of the data and the clarity of the report are essential.
The nearest noun—informe—does not control són. Agreement belongs to the coordinated subject as a whole. With abstract near-synonyms understood as one combined notion, singular agreement can occur in elevated prose, but plural agreement is the clear contemporary default.
Pronouns must also preserve argument relations. A fronted object used as a topic normally needs a resumptive clitic:
Els pressupostos, els revisarem demà; els contractes, els enviarem divendres.
The budgets, we'll review tomorrow; the contracts, we'll send on Friday.
Here the matched pattern is [topic NP], [clitic + verb + time]. Omitting only one clitic breaks both the syntax of dislocation and the rhetorical symmetry. For the construction itself, see dislocation.
Ellipsis without broken structure
Catalan can omit material recoverable from the first conjunct. This often creates elegant balance:
La Joana prepararà el pressupost; en Karim, la presentació.
Joana will prepare the budget; Karim, the presentation.
The second clause omits prepararà, but its structure remains recoverable: [en Karim] [prepararà] [la presentació]. The comma marks the missing predicate. This written pattern is (formal) and concise; conversation would often repeat the verb or use a pronoun.
Ellipsis becomes risky when the missing predicate is not uniquely recoverable or when the compressed wording causes a temporary competing analysis. Compare:
❌ El director ha convocat l'advocat i la secretària, els assessors.
Problematic — 'la secretària' can complete the first clause's object or begin an elliptical clause with 'els assessors' as its object.
✅ El director ha convocat l'advocat, i la secretària ha convocat els assessors.
The director summoned the lawyer, and the secretary summoned the advisers.
The fully expressed version is better when a boundary could be misread. A comma is a reading aid, not a substitute for structure.
Neutral order and deliberate reordering
A neutral sentence normally presents a familiar subject before its predicate:
La comissió publicarà avui els resultats i explicarà demà els criteris.
The committee will publish the results today and explain the criteria tomorrow.
For rhetorical balance, the time phrases can frame two matched clauses:
Avui, la comissió publicarà els resultats; demà, explicarà els criteris.
Today, the committee will publish the results; tomorrow, it will explain the criteria.
The initial phrases are not subjects: avui and demà are temporal adjuncts. English speakers sometimes treat every initial phrase as the grammatical subject because English relies heavily on initial subjects. Catalan identifies the subject through agreement and argument structure, not position alone.
Fronting can also mark contrastive focus, while left dislocation marks a topic. Do not confuse the two:
D'AQUEST INFORME parlava, no pas de l'acta anterior.
It was THIS REPORT that she was talking about, not the previous minutes. (contrastive focus)
D'aquest informe, en parlava cada vegada que ens reuníem.
As for this report, she talked about it whenever we met. (topic; resumed by 'en')
The first has contrastive stress and no resumptive clitic. The second has a detached topic and en. What looks like “flexible order” is two different constructions.
Balance is also informational
Grammatical twins can still feel lopsided if one item is a short label and the other carries several embedded clauses. Put the lighter unit first and the heavier unit last, or split the sentence.
L'acord garanteix estabilitat i que els proveïdors que compleixin els requisits cobraran dins del termini establert.
The agreement guarantees stability and that suppliers meeting the requirements will be paid within the established deadline. (grammatical but unbalanced)
L'acord garanteix l'estabilitat del servei i el cobrament dins del termini establert per als proveïdors que compleixin els requisits.
The agreement guarantees service stability and payment within the established deadline for suppliers that meet the requirements.
The repair makes both objects noun phrases. A second good repair would use two que clauses. Do not default to a passive merely to imitate English symmetry: Catalan often prefers an active subject, an impersonal construction, or explicit repetition.
A natural editing dialogue
—A la nota hi diu que volem reduir la despesa, una atenció més ràpida i que els formularis siguin més clars. —La llista balla. Escriu: «reduir la despesa, agilitzar l'atenció i aclarir els formularis».
—The note says we want to reduce spending, faster service, and for the forms to be clearer. —The list is uneven. Write: 'reduce spending, speed up service, and clarify the forms.'
The editor does not merely make all endings look alike. She assigns the same actor to three transitive infinitives and gives each one a direct object. That alignment exposes the policy's three intended actions.
Diagnosing an ambiguity
La Marta va dir que calia revisar els protocols i els contractes antics.
Marta said that the protocols and the old contracts had to be reviewed / that the old protocols and contracts had to be reviewed.
Does antics modify only contractes, or the full coordination protocols i contractes? Masculine plural agreement permits both readings. Parallelism alone cannot decide. Repeat the adjective for wide distributive scope—els protocols antics i els contractes antics—or mark the narrow reading explicitly—revisar els protocols i, dels contractes, només els antics. Modifier placement must reflect intended scope.
Common Mistakes
❌ La feina consisteix a entrevistar els clients, l'anàlisi de les respostes i redactar l'informe.
Incorrect — the list mixes an infinitive, a noun phrase, and another infinitive.
✅ La feina consisteix a entrevistar els clients, analitzar les respostes i redactar l'informe.
The job consists of interviewing clients, analyzing the responses, and drafting the report.
❌ No només l'equip va revisar els càlculs, sinó també va justificar cada canvi.
Incorrect for the intended action contrast — 'no només' is attached to the subject rather than to the first verb phrase.
✅ L'equip no només va revisar els càlculs, sinó que també va justificar cada canvi.
The team not only reviewed the calculations but also justified every change.
❌ Les queixes, respondrem avui; les propostes, les valorarem dilluns.
Incorrect — a left-dislocated direct object requires a resumptive clitic in both parallel clauses.
✅ Les queixes, les respondrem avui; les propostes, les valorarem dilluns.
The complaints, we'll answer today; the proposals, we'll assess on Monday.
❌ Els objectius del projecte són reduir residus i que es creïn llocs de treball.
Awkwardly nonparallel — an infinitive is coordinated with a finite passive clause.
✅ Els objectius del projecte són reduir residus i crear llocs de treball.
The project's aims are to reduce waste and create jobs.
Key Takeaways
- Coordinate constituents with matching categories, functions, scope, and argument relations.
- Place correlative markers directly before the units they contrast.
- Use ellipsis only when the missing structure is uniquely recoverable.
- Treat topic dislocation and contrastive fronting as distinct constructions; a topic may require a clitic.
- Balance information as well as grammar: short before long, given before new, and explicit before ambiguous.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Coordinating ClausesB1 — Link equal clauses with additive, alternative, adversative, and explanatory relations while controlling punctuation, ellipsis, and scope.
- Ellipsis and SubstitutionB2 — Omit recoverable subjects, verbs, and complements safely, and use clitics or fer-ho when Catalan requires an overt substitute.
- Designing Sentences for Given and New InformationC1 — Arrange Catalan topics, focus, subjects, clitics, and heavy constituents so that each sentence grows naturally from its context.
- Phrases, Heads, and DependentsA2 — Recognize Catalan noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and prepositional phrases by finding their heads and testing them as units.
- Coordination SyntaxC1 — Understand how Catalan coordinates constituents and clauses while sharing dependents, licensing ellipsis, resolving agreement, and preserving structural parallelism.