I wanted to check if the phrase:

The religious vandalism will spread and will contaminate many.

is correct according to English language grammar,

or whether the correct sentence is:

The religious vandalism will spread and contaminate many.

Taken from the following Portuguese sentence, a prophecy from Our Lady:

O vandalismo religioso se espalhará e contaminará a muitos.

Should I repeat will for the second verb, or write “The religious vandalism will spread and contaminate many”?

  • Drop the for idiomatic English. Beyond that, translation is off-topic here, though I will say that I very much doubt vandalism means the same thing to Iberians, who were occupied by the real Vandals, that it does in English. – StoneyB Oct 9 '13 at 23:29
  • @StoneyB It has the same meaning it has in English and Italian. It doesn't mean have any reference to Vandals. I would be surprised somebody would think of Vandals when speaking of vandalismo. – kiamlaluno Oct 9 '13 at 23:37
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    My question is: Is it correct to have the word WILL two times on that phrase? – Tony Oct 9 '13 at 23:37
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    @Tony Proofreading questions are off-topic unless a specific source of concern in the text is clearly identified. IMO, this is valid also for translation questions. At the end, though, your question is not about translation, but about repeating will for each verb. The fact you are translating a Portuguese sentence is secondary, which can let users understand from where you took the English sentence. – kiamlaluno Oct 9 '13 at 23:49
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    Would not be easier for you to answer if the WILL two times is correct or no? I put the original phrase for reference. – Tony Oct 9 '13 at 23:53

You may repeat will or not; both are grammatical. Will may be taken to 'distribute' over both infinitives, just as the subject does over both verb constructions.

The initial the, however, should be omitted. In English the definite article would be used only if a specific instance of vandalism were spoken of, and it appears from this source that this is not the case here.

  • "Religious vandalism will spread and contaminate many." – Tony Oct 10 '13 at 12:28

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