The Forms of The Infinitive

Form	Voice	Voice
	Active voice	Passive voice
Indefinite	To write	To be written
Perfect	To have written	To have been written
Continuous Perfect continuous	To be writing To have been writing	To be being writing To have been being written

Indefinite Infinitiveexpresses the action that takes place at the same time with a predicate or the action that will happen in future. It is translated by the verb in Present Simple or in Future Simple. E.g.: I have never known him to take an active part in the work – Я никогда не знал, что он принимает активное участие в этой работе. We expect him to carry out this experiment - Мы ожидаем, что он проведет этот эксперимент.

Perfect infinitiveexpresses an action that took place earlier . It is translated into Russian by a verb in Past Simple. E.g.: Such information is unlikely to have been available from the user – Маловероятно, что такая информация была получена от пользователя.

Continuous Infinitiveexpresses the action that takes place at the given moment, e.g:. I know her to be working at this problem – Я знаю, что она работает над этой проблемой.

The Use of The Infinitive with a Verb

1.Infinitive with “to”: it is put after to be and is translated as : заключается в том, чтобы, значит. E.g.: To do two things at once is to do neither. - Делать два дела одновременно, значит не делать ни одного.

2.Infinitive without “to” is used after the modal verbs and Future Simple.

3.Infinitive after “have to” and “to be to” is translated as: “должен”, “нужно”. E.g.: The question has to be settled. - Вопрос нужно решить. Friendship is not to be bought. - Дружбу нельзя купить.

Practice

Translate the following sentences paying attention to the infinitive.

1.To choose time is to save time.

2.The interval is to be measured.

3.These reactions can be classified into three types.

4.It did not take them more than two hours.

5.A more general theory must be sought to account for these interconversions.

6.This experiment will be carried out next month.

7. Bromide may be treated with potassium iodide.

8.To understand is to forgive.

9.It is necessary to observe a number of precautions.

10.The reaction of hydrogen with carbon to produce methane is not of a great importance at the moment.

11.An effort was made to obtain xenon isotherms at low temperatures.

12.The formation of trimethylene oxide may be assumed to arise from a simultaneous shift of electrons.

Part 2

Exercise 1.Read and translate the text.