Summary Supplemental viscous damping devices are generally envisioned to be connected in parallel to the inelastic parent structure or hysteretic damping devices. This gives rise to higher base shear, and often greater ductility demand of the hysteretic system. The series connection of the viscous and hysteretic system (the inelastic structure or a damper) is an alternative approach. In this paper, comparisons between the series and parallel connections of the hysteretic system and viscous dampers are done through response spectra analyses of single degree of freedom structures. Ductility demand of the hysteretic system and the total base shear are chosen as the response quantities. For the series model, a semi‐implicit solution scheme for classical Maxwell model is modified to include the inelasticity of the time‐independent hysteretic spring. It is observed that the series connection of the 2 dampers gives lower base shear than does the parallel connection. For long‐period and low‐damping structures, the ductility demand of the hysteretic system in series connection is higher than that in parallel connection. Increasing the viscous damping in series connection reduces the ductility demand substantially, lower than that obtained in parallel connection. Practical methods for implementing the series and parallel connections, in line with roof isolation, are also suggested.