Question

which sentence contains parallel structure?

derricks sister was proud that her big brother coached her soccer team.
derrick coached his sisters soccer team and managed his brothers baseball team.
derrick had managed his brothers baseball team for the past three seasons.
derrick was a great older brother, helping to coach his siblings sports teams each season.

Explanation:

Define parallel structure

Parallel structure involves using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This is typically achieved by matching grammatical forms (such as verbs, nouns, or phrases) joined by coordinating conjunctions.

Analyze the sentence options

• Option 1: "Derrick's sister was proud that her big brother coached her soccer team." This is a complex sentence with a single subordinate clause; it does not contain a list or compound structure requiring parallel elements.
• Option 2: "Derrick coached his sister's soccer team and managed his brother's baseball team." This sentence joins two independent predicates with the coordinating conjunction "and":

1. "[Derrick] coached his sister's soccer team" (past tense verb + possessive noun modifier + noun phrase)
2. "[Derrick] managed his brother's baseball team" (past tense verb + possessive noun modifier + noun phrase)

Both parts share the exact same grammatical structure, creating a parallel construction.

• Option 3: "Derrick had managed his brother's baseball team for the past three seasons." This is a simple sentence with a single predicate and prepositional phrase; there are no parallel elements.
• Option 4: "Derrick was a great older brother, helping to coach his siblings' sports teams each season." This sentence combines an independent clause with a participial phrase ("helping..."); it does not feature parallel coordinate structures.

Identify the correct option

Option 2 contains the parallel structure because it coordinates two grammatically identical verb phrases.

Answer:

• (A) Derrick's sister was proud that her big brother coached her soccer team.
• (B) Derrick coached his sister's soccer team and managed his brother's baseball team. (Correct answer)
• (C) Derrick had managed his brother's baseball team for the past three seasons.
• (D) Derrick was a great older brother, helping to coach his siblings' sports teams each season.