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.

Each type of these predicative constructions has some ex­plicit and implicit grammatical characteristics of its own. Since trans­lation of these complexes is often predetermined by their nature and structure, it would be expedient to dwell upon each of them sepa­rately.

A. Ways of Translating the For-to-lnfinitive Constructions These secondary predication constructions are used in their active and passive forms which does not influence their functioning as various complex parts of the sentence. Depending on its function in the sentence and on the voice form (active or passive) of the infini­tive, this secondary predication word-group may have different equiva­lents in 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 hap- «Побачити тебе - для
piest minute in my life... (P. мене найщасливіша мить у
Abrahams) житті/є для мене найщасли-

вішою хвилиною...

«It would be better for us to «Було б краще для нас
leave him.» (Wilde) залишити його/щоб ми зали­
шили його.

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:

«If is not for you to make Ue не тобі ставити умови/
terms.» (Wilde) He ти ставиш умови.

«The simplest thing,» said «Найпростіший вихід для
Fleur, «is for him to resign at нього... — негайно відмови-
once.» (Galsworthy) тись від членства.»

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

We are waiting for the bovs Ми чекаємо повернення/на
back from Hanoi. (Greene) повернення наших хлопиів з

Ганоя...

The condensed form of this infinitival complex may also have an object clause for its equivalent in Ukrainian: ми чекаємо, доки наші хлопці повернуться з Ганоя.

4. An attribute to a nominal part of speech: She had only to express а Варто було їй тільки wish for him to fulfil. (Mauaham} виголосити якесь (своє)

бажання, він негайно ж вико­нував його.

There was no room for us to He було місця, де сісти/де.
sit down... (Galsworthy) можна було сісти.

5. An adverbial modifier of equivalents a subordinate clause / left something under your door for you to read it. (Carter) Her home was too far west for anyone to come to him. (Cusack)

purpose or result having for their or an infinitive in Ukrainian:

Я дещо залишив тобі під дверима, щоб ти почитав/ тобі почитати.

її'домівка була далеко захід­ніше, тож ніхто не міг навід­ атись до нього.

Sometimes, however, an equivalent of the for-phrase in Ukrain­ian may be only a subordinate (or coordinate) clause:

He paused for me to show my Він помовчав, аби я ще раз
ignorance again... (Greene) показав своє неуцтво...

Exercise II. Identify the function of the infinitival for-phrase and translate each sentence below into Ukrainian.

1. For me to ask would be treason; and for me to be told would be treason. (M.Wilson) 2. For you to come here is impossible. 3. «For me to discover England to him,» she thought, «for him to discover the East to me.» (Galsworthy) 4. It was impossible for me now to persuade myself that this urgent desire of his to dispense hospitality was disinterested. 5.... It was out of the question for him to absnnt himself for any length of time. 6. It would have been easy for him to get out of it. 7. It seemed a good opportunity for Julia to get away. (Maugham) 8. It would be better for us to leave him. (Wilde) 9. It was not unknown for small boys to enter a monastery. (Ken Follett) 10. It was so easy for a young man of his looks and character to be led astray by evil woman. (Dreiser) 11. There was need for him to be economical. 12. It seems so babyish for me to be young to night school. (London) 13. It is for me to thank you. 14. «The simplest thing,» said Fleur, «is for him to resign at once». (Galsworthy). 15. «That is for me to decide, is it not?» (C.Doyle) 16. He wants me to do something pleasant - for him to feel better.» (Maugham) 17. All he wanted desperately now... was for their child to live. (A. Hailey) 18. «What is there for me to do, except one thing?» (J. Conrad) 19. Rosemary looked for a place to sit. (Fitzgerald) 20. David had de­cided to let him wait for his seventeenth birthday to come. 21. We think it natural for parents to want their children to conform to a pat­tern they understand. 22. David prayed nightly for her and Blaise to come back. (I.Murdoch) 23. I'll try and arrange for you to see him at Mount Street. (Galsworthy) 24. He sat there in the little hot office

waiting for one of us to speak. (Greene) 25. She also asked for more women to be appointed news-readers. (M. Guardian) 26. I some­times think it is a shame for people to spend so much money this way. (Dreiser) 27.1 bought something for you to read. 28. «It's not a bad thing for you to judge others by yourself». (Maugham) 29. There was milk in the ice-chest for her to drink.(Cusack) 30. And there was a child's shirt in the living-room waiting for a button to be sewn on. (Greene) 31. Arrangements are being made for the girl to be taken back to her own country. (M. Guardian) 32. Dr. Saunders stopped for us to join him. (Maugham) 33. But five minutes was enough for them to understand one another. (Cronin)

WAYS OF TRANSLATING THE OBJECTIVE WITH

THE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS/PREDICATIVE

COMPLEXES

Unlike the polyfunctional for-to-infinitive constructions, the ob­jective with the infinitive complexes can have mostly one function in the sentence - that of the complex object. Despite this the semantic equivalents of this construction in Ukrainian are often different. The choice of the Ukrainian semantic equivalent is predetermined by some factors, the main of which are as follows: a) the lexical meaning of the finite verb after which the objective with the infinitive construction is used; b) the paradigmatic form of the infinitive (its categorial mean­ing); c) the lexical meaning of the objective infinitive. As a result, different semantic and structural equivalents may be used in Ukrain­ian as substitutes for this predicative complex. The choice of the appropriate language unit/sense u(1it may often rest with the transla­tor only or it may be predetermined by the structural peculiarity of the sentence under translation. The most common ways of translating the objective with the infinitive constructions are the following: 1. By means of a subordinate clause:

Ви хочете, щоб ___ (діапозитиви) забрав? Усі спостерігали, як він іде садком/переходить садок.

я їх

«Do you want me to take these (slides) away?» (Hailey)

Depending on the predicate verb, the objective with the infiniive construction may be rendered into Ukrainian with the help of an in­finitive or a subordinate clause:

Everyone watched him walk across the garden. (D. Lessing)

 

Він наказав кучерові /xs щоб він їхав далі.

He ordered the cabman to drive on. (London)

2. By means of an objective infinitival word-group forming part of the compound modal verbal predicate (like in English):

У дитинстві я бажав стати художником, але бать­ко змусив мене піти в бізнес. Повільно, збираючись з силами, він одягнувся і змусив себе йти.

- - - - - • _ <r _

/ rather wanted to be a painter when I was a boy, but my father made me go into business. (Maugham)

Slowly, economically, he got dressed and forced himself to walk. (Lawrence)

3. By means of a noun derived from the objective infinitive (an alternative way of translation) or an object clause.

He heard the blackbird sing. Він чув спів дрозда.

Не had expected him to be Він очікував від нього біль-more sympathetic. (Maugham) ше співчуття.

The objective with the infinitive construction in the above-given sentence may naturally be translated with the help of the subordi­nate clause: Він очікував, що той виявить більше співчуття/що той буде співчутливішим.

4. By means of a phrasal/simple verbal predicate: The champagne and the alti- Від шампанського й висоти tude made him sleep. (Hailey) його хилило до сну/йому хоті­лося спати.

Не never made me laugh. Він ніколи не міг мене
(Maugham) розсмішити/викликати в мене

посмішку.

The objective with the infinitive construction in the last sen­tence may also be understood and translated with the help of a sin­gle finite form of the verb: Він ніколи мене не тішив.

In some sentences introduced by the anticipatory ft the objec­tive with the infinitive construction may perform a quite unusual for it function of the complex subject corresponding to the Ukrainian ex­tended infinitival subject:

«It's heavenly to hear you say «Чути ие од вас - справж-that, my sweet.» (Maugham) нісіньке блаженство.»

Translation of the objective with the infinitive constructions, therefore, may be predetermined npt only by the nature and mean­ing of the finite verb/predicate, which may have various implicit de­pendent grammatical meanings (those of physical or mental percep­tion, verbs of saying, etc.), but also by its syntactic function, by the translator's choice of the equivalent and by the stylistic aim pursued in the sentence.

Exercise III. Prior to translating the English sentences below offer appropriate Ukrainian semantic (and structural) equivalents for each objective with the infinitive construction.

1.1 want you to hear me out. 2.1 saw you drive up and I ran down, I'm afraid, on the third floor. 3. She had never seen him smoke a pipe before. 4. She heard him slam the front door and saw him come out. 5. Now she heard Guy clatter down the steps to the bath-house. 6. He heard Big Ben chime «Three» above the traffic. (Galsworthy) 7. Neilson watched him make his way across and when he had disap­peared among the coconuts, he looked still. 8. She wanted him to look back on this as one of the great moments of his life. 9. She felt that he wanted her to be a child of nature. 10. «Don't you remember, before I married Gelbert you advised me to marry a man of my own age.» 11. She had expected him to be more sympathetic. 12. «I should hate him to be an author if that's what you mean.» 13. She must look at the people if she wants 1hem to look at her. 14. She saw Charles's smile freeze on his face. 15.... he could not see Julia's face when she heard him say this. 16. Julia didn't know why... her little presents made her inclined to laugh. (Maugham) 17. «Oh! If I could only see him laugh once more. Oh! If I could only see him weep». (M.Twain) 18. She caused a telegram to be sent to him. (Galsworthy) 19. «... she must agree her baby to be surrendered for adoption immedi­ately after birth.» 20. O'Donnell wanted his baby to live. 21 If you wanted him to take an assistant, you told him to do so and ussually that was that. 22. «Even at that,» O'Donnell reflected, «he had con­sidered the chairman to be erring toward optimism.» 23. «It was a loud, firm protest, but even as he made it he had known it to be a lie» 24. «Mike had spoken them (words) on impulse, but suddenly, deeply, he knew them to be true.» (Hailey) 25. It was so like his family, so like them to carry their business principles into their private relations. (Galsworthy) 26. «I want order! I want things to get started!» (R.Goldberg) 27. He had the dray-man bring in the soap. (Dreiser) 28. «I cannot bear you to speak of that.» (Jerome K.Jerome)

 

Exercise IV. Translate the sentences into English. Be sure to use the corresponding form of the infinitive in each of them.

I. Я не знав, що вона також розмовляє італійською мовою. 2. Він не сподівався, що ви запросите і мене. 3. Всі раді, що перша лекція в нас була з історії України. 4. Ми були першими, хто зустрічав канадських студентів у нашому університеті. 5. Вона пишалася тим, що мала змогу перекладати промову цього вченого з Оксфордського університету. 6. Микола задоволений, що зустрічався зі своїми однокласниками. 7. Ніхто не чекав, що до них завітають перед сесією делегати наукової конференції. 8. Ми хочемо, щоб першим іспитом у зимову сесію поставили теоретичну граматику. 9. Студенти не сподівалися, що вони всі так добре напишуть контрольну роботу. 10. Всі задоволені, що їздили на екскурсію до колишньої козацької столиці Батурина.

II. У тому тексті надто багато неологізмів і жаргонізмів, щоб перекласти його без словника. 12. Вона не пригадує, щоб тоді в Харкові придбала цей дорогий словник. 13. Нікому не було місця, де сісти. 14. Нам незручно пригадуватиб що ми тоді стільки турбували вас із перекладом цієї торговельної угоди. 15. Погода була несприятлива, щоб їхати в Карпати на спортивні змагання. 16. Вони були дуже задоволені, що відвідали музей мадам Тюссо в Лондоні. 17. Хто б міг подумати, що з цього тендітного першокурсника виросте такий видатний спортсмен. 18. Ми раді повідомити вам, що його наукова робота з перекладу відзначена першою премією на конкурсі. 19. Студентам подобається, коли їм дають більше самостійно перекладати. 20. Вони задоволені, що їхні наукові праці прийняті на конкурс. 21. Студентка не погодилася, щоб її одну з групи посилали до Великої Британії. 22. Ніхто не очікував, що їх пошлють тлумачами на виставку шведських споживчих товарів у Києві. 23. Студент не боявся, що його усний переклад слухатиме вся група. 24. Він хотів попросити час, щоб виконати цей важкий переклад. 25. Ми раді, що нас під час зимових канікул посилали на спортивні змагання до Львова. 26. Усі сподівались тоді, що нашому інститутові буде присвоєне почесне ім'я найбільшого поліглота України академіка Агатанґела Кримського. 27. Не всі знають, що цей учений володів 68 мовами народів Европи й Азії. 28. Щоб правильно й адекватно перекласти текст, його треба перш належно проаналізувати. 29. Студент не підозрював, що той уривок міг мати стільки незнайомих йому слів-технічних термінів. ЗО. Усі погодилися, що уривок міг бути перекладений за коротший час.