Summary

Inconsistencies are annoying and frustrating to the reader. Coherence, or the logical arrangement of ideas, helps a paragraph or essay “hold together.” Parallelism, or writing that is consistent in form and structure, reduces frustration among readers.

Pronouns must be consistent in person and number. Verb tenses must match. Sentences must be balanced, meaning that the grammatical structure used must be repeated in sentences. This is especially important for items in a series.