2

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.

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  • The verb tense I am using is the present participle or the gerund? I would say it is the present participle. Feb 27, 2011 at 8:03
  • 2
    It's the gerund. You can tell because making and controlling are functioning as nouns.
    – chaos
    Feb 27, 2011 at 8:24
  • Alternative to make and control where both words again have the same tense
    – mplungjan
    Feb 27, 2011 at 10:12
  • At least you have a conjunction between the two gerunds. I have experienced sentences in which two gerunds occur in a row with nothing between them. Those sentences, while clear in meaning feel so incredibly unnatural and awkward. (I wish I could think of an example now…)
    – Synetech
    Mar 1, 2011 at 21:11
  • @Synetech inc. Please do. Now I'm curious. :) Mar 2, 2011 at 17:32

2 Answers 2

7

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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6

No; the first version is correct.

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