Published: July 4, 2024 | Last Updated: October 1, 2025
If you also sometimes get confused by all the literary concepts, you’re not alone.
Today, I’ll explain the differences and similarities among three related rhetorical devices: hendiatris, tricolon, and parallelism, which are related but distinct concepts.
First, let’s briefly define and exemplify each:
Hendiatris
Hendiatris is a figure of speech in which three words express one idea.
Examples:
- “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered). – Good old Caesar
- “Be bloody, bold, and resolute” – Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Tricolon
A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements (words, phrases, or clauses), often of increasing or decreasing length. It aims to create a rhythm and emphasis using three similar elements. Speechwriters often use tricolons to make fx a presidential speech more impactful.
Examples:
- “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” – from the United States Declaration of Independence.
- “[…] the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.” – President Barack Obama
- “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses […]” – the poem on the Statue of Liberty
Parallelism
Parallelism uses components in a sentence that are grammatically the same or similar in their construction, sound, meaning, or meter. It can involve two or more elements, not just limited to three.
Examples:
- “She likes cooking, jogging, and reading.”
- “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
- “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Read more about The Various types of Parallelism in Movies.
Key Differences
In short, hendiatris focuses on three words, tricolon can include three phrases or clauses, and parallelism can involve any number of elements (not restricted to three).
Hendiatris is primarily used to convey a single idea, tricolon for creating emphasis and rhythm through tripling, and parallelism for balance and rhythm in sentence structure.
Because of this, tricolon and parallelism often involve more complex and longer structures than hendiatris, which is more concise.
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Summing Up
Parallelism is a literary device that emphasizes and rhythmically rhythms sentences by using repeating structures. A tricolon involves grouping three parallel elements to express ideas more effectively, while a hendiatris uses three words or phrases to convey a single concept.
While these devices share similarities in creating emphasis and rhythm, they differ in their specific applications and structures.
Read Next: Overview of Literary Devices and Elements
