Syntax & Word Order
Parataxis
Placing clauses side by side without making one subordinate to another. The reader must infer relationships that words such as “because” or “although” would state.
"The sun rose. He walked to the window. The street was empty."
Don't confuse it with Asyndeton. Hypotaxis is its opposite: clauses nested by subordination. Asyndeton concerns missing conjunctions; parataxis concerns missing *hierarchy*.
Examples
The bell rang. The door opened. A stranger entered.
Independent clauses stand beside one another without subordination.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as parataxis.
Anaphora 19 Asyndeton 9 Personification 8 Passive Voice 7 Antithesis 7 Litotes 7 Polysyndeton 7 Metonymy 7
The rest of the family
Hyperbaton Anastrophe Periodic Sentence Cumulative (Loose) Sentence Parenthesis Apposition / Appositive Zeugma Hendiadys Pleonasm Enumeration / Accumulatio Passive Voice Cleft Sentence