grammaticality - Using the gerund two times in a row


When you have this construct:



. . . is a key factor in the making and controlling of the water.



Should you leave only the last verb in the gerund:



. . . is a key factor in the make and controlling of the water.




Answer



You need to say "making and controlling".


What you have there is a parallel structure. A parallel structure is basically when you condense multiple sentences varying in only one item down to a single sentence with a list of the varied items:



I entered the marathon. I entered the decathlon. I entered the pole vault.



becomes



I entered the marathon, decathlon, and pole vault.



When you form a parallel structure, all the elements in the parallel MUST be in the same grammatical form: all nouns, all gerunds, all infinitive verbs, all prepositional phrases, etc. No mixing and matching is allowed.


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