“I want to be loved, happy, and not settle for something less than we all deserve.” - Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer has made an error in parallelism. She has listed three items that follow the infinitive “to be,” but two are adjectives and one is an infinitive phrase. Similar items in a series should be structured in a similar way.
These are the things Jennifer wants:
- to be loved [The word "loved" is a participle; it is a verb form that functions as an adjective. The infinitive phrase "to be loved" makes sense.]
- (to be) happy [The word "happy" is an adjective. The infinitive "to be" is implied and the entire phrase "(to be) happy" makes sense.]
- (to be) not (to) settle for something less [The infinitive "to be" is implied. It does not make sense to follow "to be" with the infinitive phrase "not (to) settle for something less."]
Correct the sentence by restructuring the infinitive phrase “not to settle for something less” so that it is an adjective that can complete the list of how Jennifer would like to be (”loved,” “happy,” and an adjective form of “not settling for something less”).
“I want to be loved, happy, and uncompromising.”
One Comment
Of all of the celebrity flubs, this one stood out to me as the most egregious. Very interesting that you’ve posted these here. Now I need to carefully guard my comments for fear of dangling a participle.
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