After verbs denoting sense perception, such as: “to hear”, “to see”, “to watch”, “to feel”, “to observe”, “to notice”, etc

1.  After verbs denoting sense perception, such as: “to hear”, “to see”, “to watch”, “to feel”, “to observe”, “to notice”, etc.

 

Eg. I haven’t heard anyone call me. – Я не слышал, чтобы

 кто-нибудь меня звал.

I saw David enter the room. – И видел, как Девид вошел в комнату.

 

After verbs of sense perception only the Indefinite Infinitive Active is used. If the meaning is passive Participle II is used.

 

Eg. I saw the fire slowly faded. – Я видел, как пожар постепенно потух.

 

If a process is expressed, Participle I Indefinite Active is used.

 

Eg. He saw Wendy coming – Он увидел, как Венди идет.

 

It should be noted that the verb “to see” should be followed by a clause and not by the Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction, when it is used in the meaning of “to understand”.

 

Eg. I saw that he did not realize the danger. – Я видел (понимал), что он не осознает опасность.

 

After the verbs “to see” and “to notice” the Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction is not used with the verb “to be”. In such cases Subordinate Clause is used.

 

Eg. I saw, that he was pale. – Я видел, что он побледнел.

 

When the verb “to hear” is not a verb of sense perception and is used in the meaning “to learn”, “to be told”, a clause or a gerund is used, but not the Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction.

 

Eg. I heard that he had left for France. – Мне сказали (Я слышал), что он уехал во Францию.

We have heard that she has found a job. — Мы узнали, что она нашла работу.

 

2.  After verbs denoting mental activity, such as: “to know”, “to think”, “to consider”, “to believe”, “to suppose”, “to expect”, “to imagine”, “to find”, “to feel”, “to trust”, and etc.

After verbs of mental activity in the Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction the verb “to be” is generally used. But this restriction does not apply to the verb “to expect”. The use of this construction after most verbs of mental activity is more characteristic of literary than of colloquial style.

 

Eg. I know you to be the most honest, spotless creature that ever lived. – Я знаю, что Вы самое честное и безупречное существо из всех, когда-либо живших на свете.

If you suppose that boy to be friendless, you deceive yourself. – Если вы предполагаете, что у этого мальчика нет друзей, вы ошибаетесь.

Everybody expected her to marry Pete. – Все ожидали, что она выйдет замуж за Пита.

 

After verbs of mental activity the Perfect Infinitive is used, but seldom.

 

Eg. The doctor found his heart to have stopped two hours before. – Доктор установил, что его сердце перестало биться два часа тому назад.

 

In the Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction after verbs “to think”, “to consider”, “to find”, the verb “to be” is left out.

For instance, instead of “I consider him to be a good specialist” we can say “I consider him a good specialist” and translate into Russian literally “Я считаю его хорошим специалистом”. (This sentence is translated by simple sentence.)

 

3.  After verbs of declaring: “to pronounce”, “to declare”, “to report”.

 

Eg. The surgeon pronounced the wound to be a slight one. – Врач сказал, что рана легкая.

She declared him to be the most disobedient child in existence. – Она заявила, что это самый непослушный ребенок на свете.

 

4.  After verbs denoting wish and intention: “to want”, “to wish”, “to desire”, “to mean”, “to intend”, “to choose” (in the meaning “хотеть”) and also after the construction “I would like” (Я хотел бы).

 

Eg. He intended me to go with him to India. – Он хотел, чтобы я поехала с ним в Индию.

I want you to come and dine with me. – Я хочу, чтобы вы пришли со мной пообедать.

I don’t choose you to go by yourself to a hotel. – Я не хочу, чтобы вы жили в госитнице одна.

I would like her look to through my report. – Я бы хотел, чтобы она посмотрела мой доклад.

 

5.  After verbs and expressions denoting feeling and emotion: “to like”, “to dislike”, “to love”, “to hate”, “cannot bear”, etc.

 

Eg. I dislike you to talk like that. – Я не люблю, когда ты так говоришь.

I hate him to be flogged. – Я терпеть не могу, когда его бьют.

I cannot bear you to speak of that. – Я не могу выносить, когда вы

 говорите об этом.

 

6.  After verbs denoting order and permission: “to order”, “to allow”, “to suffer”, “to have”, etc.

Here we find the Objective-with-the-Infinitive only if the object is expressed by a noun or pronoun, denoting lifeless thing or when the Infinitive is passive. This restriction does not apply to the verbs “to suffer” and “to have”.

 

Eg. Mr. Sinclair ordered his carriage to be ready early in the morning. – Мистер Синклер распорядился, чтобы экипаж был готов рано утром.

She had never allowed the name to John Gordon to pass her lips. – Она никогда не позволяла себе произносить имя Джона Гордона. (This sentence is translated by simple sentence.)

He ordered the wounded to be carried away from the field of battle. – Он приказал, чтобы раненного унесли с поля боя.

 

However, if the noun or pronoun denotes a person and it is followed by an inactive form as a rule the Infinitive is not a part of the Complex Object and has the function of second Direct Object, immediately subordinated to the Verb.

 

Eg. He ordered the prisoners to go away. – Он приказал пленным (закл-ченным) уйти. (This sentence is translated by simple sentence.)

 

7.  The Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction is used after verbs denoting compulsion: “to make” (in the meaning “заставить”), “to cause” (“заставить”, “распорядиться”), “to get” (“добиться”), “to have” (“заставить”,”сказать чтобы”).

 

Eg. Light steps in the gravel made him turn his head. – Легкие шаги по гравию заставили его повернуть голову. (This sentence is translated by simple sentence.)

She caused a telegram to be sent to him. – Она распорядилась, чтобы ему послали телеграмму.

The noise caused her to awake. – От шума она проснулась. (This sentence is translated by simple sentence.)

I cannot get her to finish her lessons. – Я не могу заставить ее закончить уроки.

 

8.   Though the Infinitive as a rule is not used with verbs requiring prepositions, the Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction is widely used with the preposition “for”. This construction consists of the preposition “for” plus noun in common case (or pronoun in objective case) plus Infinitive. These construction are translated into Russian by a subordinate clause, usually introduced by the conjunctions “что”, “чтобы” and at the same time the noun or pronoun of that construction together with proceeding preposition “for” is translated by a noun (or a pronoun) in the function of the subject of subordinate clause, and the infinitive is translated by a finite for of verb which is the predicate of the subordinate clause.

 

Eg. He waited for her to speak but she did not. – Он ждал, чтобы она заговорила, но она молчала.

 

Occasionally the Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction occurs with the preposition “on” or “upon” (after the verb “to rely”).

 

Eg. I rely on you to come in time. – Я расчитываю, что вы придете вовремя.

I rely upon you not to go over to the opposition. – Я надеюсь, что вы не переметнетесь к оппозиции.

 

The gerund however is also possible here.

 

Eg. I rely on your coming in time. – Я расчитываю, что вы придете вовремя.

 

 

II. The Subjective-with-the-Infinitive Construction

(The Nominative-with-the-Infinitive Construction)

 

The Subjective-with-the-Infinitive Construction traditionally called the Nominative-with-the-Infinitive Construction is a construction in which the Infinitive is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or pronoun in the nominative case.

The peculiarity of this construction is that it does not serve as one part of the sentence. One of its component parts has the function of the subject, the other forms part of a compound verbal predicate.

 

Eg. Jane is said to resemble me. – Говорят, что Джейн похожа на меняю.

 

The Infinitive with the Subjective-with-the-Infinitive Construction cannot refer to a future action except with the verbs and word groups whose meaning allows of it: “to expect”, “to be sure”, “to be certain”, and “to be likely”.

 

Eg. We are sure to come at the heart of the matter. – Мы обязательно доберемся до сути дела.

He is expected to give us an answer tomorrow. – Ожидают, что он даст нам ответ завтра.

This fire is certain to produce a panic in the morning. – Этот пожар, беспорно (несомненно) вызовет утром панику.

 

The Subjective-with-the-Infinitive Construction is used with the following groups of verbs in the Passive Voice.