THE OBJECTIVE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION AND ITS
TRANSLATION MEANS
The Objective Infinitive Construction
is used after the verbs
1. Of sense perception to hear, to see, to feel, to watch, etc.:
I paused a moment and watched the tram stop.
2. Of mental activity to think, to consider, to remember, to know, to find, etc.:
I know him to have said that.
3. Expressing permission, request or order:
He ordered the children to stop talking.
4. Of liking and disliking to love, to like, to hate, etc.:
I hate you to talk like that.
5. Of intention to want, to wish, to desire, to mean, etc.:
I don’t want him to be punished.
6. Of inducement to have, to let, to make, to get:
I can’t get him to do it properly.
The most common ways of translating the objective with the infinitive
constructions are the following:
1. By means of a subordinate clause: Do you want me to take these slides away? –
Ви хочете, щоб я забрав ці слайди?
2. By means of an objective infinitival word-group forming part of the compound
modal verbal predicate: Slowly, economically, he got dressed and forced himself to walk.
– Повільно, збираючись з силами, він одягнувся і змусив себе йти.
3. By means of a noun derived from the objective infinitive or an object clause: He
had expected him to be more sympathetic. – Він очікував від нього більше співчуття.
4. By means of a phrasal/simple verbal predicate: He never made me laugh. – Він
ніколи не міг мене розсмішити/ викликати в мене посмішку
THE SUBJECTIVE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION
AND ITS TRANSLATION MEANS
The Subjective Infinitive Construction is used
1. With the verbs in active voice to seem, to appear, to prove, to happen, to turn out:
That man seemed to read my thoughts.
2. With the verbs in passive voice
- To announce, to declare, to report, to say, to state :
She was announced to be the winner.
- To believe, to consider, to expect, to find, to know, to suppose, to think, to
understand:
He is expected to arrive tonight.
- To feel, to hear, to see, to watch: He was heard to open the front door.
- To make: He was made to keep silent.
3. With the phrases to be likely, to be unlikely, to be sure, to be certain :
She is likely to be late.
When used with the verbs expressing permission, request, intention, order,
compulsion (to allow, to permit, to order, to command, to force, to make, to request, to
intend, etc.), the subjective with the infinitive construction may be rendered in Ukrainian
in the following ways:
a) with the help of an indefinite personal sentence;
b) with the help of an impersonal sentence having the passive verbal predicate in
-но, -то;
c) with the help of an object subordinate clause.
e.g. The inmates were ordered not to try to leave their wards.
a) В’язням наказали не робити спроб залишати камери.
b) В’язням було наказано/наказали не виходити з камер.
c) В’язням наказали, щоб вони не робили спроб залишати камери.
The subjective with the infinitive construction used with the verbs of physical (to
feel, to hear, to see, to taste, etc.) or mental (to believe, to deny, to expect, to know, to
suppose) perception can be translated with the help of the one-member introductory
indefinite personal sentences followed by an object subordinate clause.
e.g. He is supposed to be working on the report . – Вважається, що він доклад.
When used after the verbs of saying and reporting (to say, to report, to tell, etc.),
the nominative with the infinitive complex is translated with the help of the introductory
indefinite-personal sentence followed by an object subordinate clauseю
e.g. Paper is said to have been invented in China. – Кажуть, що папір
винайдений/винайдено в Китаї.
When used with the verbs to appear, to chance, to happen, to prove, to seem, or
with the mood phrases to be sure, to be certain, to be likely/unlikely the subjective with
the infinitive constructions may have different interpretations in Ukrainian. Thus, the
verbs seem, believe, appear, etc, which function as simple verbal predicates in English
are converted into parenthetic words or introductory -сь/-ся impersonal/definite personal
sentences (Вважається/вважають, здається).
Alice didn’t seem to have heard of me. – Еліс, здавалося, не чула про
мене./Здавалося, Еліс не чула про мене.
The for-to-Infinitive Construction
may have the following function
1. The complex subject: For him to help his friend is quite natural.
“for him to help” is the For-to- Infinitive Construction, where the “for him” is
the nominal element expressed by the preposition “for” and the personal pronoun
in the objective case and “to help” is the verbal element (non-finite form of the
verb) expressed by the infinitive.
2. The complex predicative : The question is for you to decide.
3. The complex object: I waited for him to speak.
4. The complex attribute: This is the book for you to read.
5. The complex adverbial modifier: He made a remark in a voice too low for
me to catch.
Depending on the function in the sentence and on the voice form of the
infinitive, the construction may have different translation ways into Ukrainian.
The most often occurring are the infinitive, an infinitival phrase introduced
by the conjunction щоб, a finite form of the verb or a subordinate clause.
The realization of a definite meaning may be predetermined by the function
of the infinitival for-phrase which may be as follows:
1. The complex subject having for its equivalent in Ukrainian a simple
subject expressed by the infinitive or an extended subject expressed 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...
2. A complex predicative having for its Ukrainian equivalent either an
infinitive functioning as the simple nominal predicate, or a finite form of the verb,
i.e., a simple verbal predicate:
It is not for you to make terms. – Це не тобі ставити умови/Не ти
ставиш умови.
3. A complex object corresponding to a simple or extended object in
Ukrainian:
We are waiting for the boys back from Hanoi. – Ми чекаємо повернення/
на повернення наших хлопців з Ханоя.
4. A complex attribute: She had only to express a wish for him to fulfil. –
Варто було їй тільки виголосити якесь (своє) бажання, він негайно ж
виконував його.
5. A complex adverbial modifier of purpose or result having for their
equivalents a subordinate clause or an infinitive in Ukrainian:
I left something under your door for you to read it. – Я дещо залишив тобі
під дверима, щоб ти почитав/тобі почитати
