Synopsis 1

Ways of rendering the lexico-grammatical meanings and functions of the english infinitive

Translation of the English infinitive is greatly predetermined by its form and sometimes by its function in the sentence.The English infinitive functions as:

1. A subject:

It was pretty nice to get back to my room. - Було так приємно знову дістатися до своєї кімнати.

2. A part of a compound predicate:

No, you couldn't have called her beautiful. - Hi, її не можна було назвати гарною.

"We are bound to win our next game", their coach promised. - "Нашу наступну гру ми зобов'язані виграти"- пообіцяв тренер.

3. An object:

She taught him to sit at a table and not put his elbows on it.- Вона вчила його сидіти за столом і не класти на нього руки.

4. An attribute:

«Can I give you anything to eat or to drink?» - «Дати вам щось поїсти чи попити?»

We made a list of things to be taken... - Ми склали список речей,щоб узяти з собою/які візьмемо з собою.

5. An adverbial modifier may be conveyed in Ukrainian with the help of an infinitival щоб-phrase, a prepositional noun or a noun word-group:

It was too dark to distinguish anything.- Було занадто темно, щоб розрізнити що-небудь.

Ways of translating infinitival complexes

There are three types of infinitival complexes in present-day English (which are often referred to as secondary predication con­structions): 1) the for-to-infinitival complex; 2) the objective with the infinitive and 3) the subjective with the infinitive complexes.

Ways of traslating the for-to-infinitive constructions

The realization of a definite meaning may be predetermined by the function of the infinitival for-phrase which may be as follows:

1. A complex subject having for its equivalent in Ukrainian asimple subject expressed by the infinitive or an extended subjectexpressed by the subordinate clause:

«For me to see you is the happiest minute in my life... - «Побачити тебе — для мене найщасливіша мить у житті/є для мене найщасливішою хвилиною ...

«It would be better for us to leave him.»- «Було б краще для нас залишити його/щоб ми залишили його.

2. A complex predicative having for its Ukrainian equivalent ei­ther an infinitive functioning as the simple nominal predicate, or afinite form of the verb, i.e., a simple verbal predicate:

«It is not for you to make terms.»- Цe не тобі ставити умови/ He ти ставиш умови.

3.A complex object corresponding to a simple or extended object in Ukrainian:

We are waiting for the boys to come back from Hanoi. - Ми чекаємо повернення/на повернення наших хлопиів з Ханоя.

4.An attribute to a nominal part of speech:

There was no room for us tosit down... - He було місця, де сісти/деможна було сісти.

5. An adverbial modifier of purpose or result having for their equiva­lents a subordinate clause or an infinitive in Ukrainian:

Her home was too far west for anyone to come to him. – Її домівка була далеко західніше, тож ніхто не міг навідатись до нього.

Ways of translating the objective with the infinitive constructions

The most common ways of translating the objective with the infinitive constructions are the following:

1.By means of a subordinate clause:

Everyone watched him walk across the garden. (D.Lessing) - Усі спостерігали, як він іде садком/переходить cадок.

2.By means of an objective infinitival word-group forming partof the compound modal verbal predicate:

I rather wanted to be a painter when I was a boy, but my father made me go into business.(Maugham) - У дитинстві я бажав стати художником, але батько змусив мене піти в бізнес.

3.By means of a noun derived from the objective infinitive:

He heard the blackbird sing. (Maugham) - Він чув спів дрозда.

4.By means of a phrasal/simple verbal predicate:

The champagne and the altitude made him sleep. (Hailey) - Від шампанського й висоти його хилило до cну/йому хотілося спати.

Synopsis 2