The functions of the infinitive in a sentence
The infinitive is an indefinite form of a verb. In a sentence it can play a few roles:
1. role of a subject: it is usually put at the beginning of a sentence and can be rendered by the indefinite form of a verb or a noun, e.g.: To think otherwise would be mistake. - Думать по другому было бы ошибкой.
2. Role of an object: infinitive is put after a predicate and is translated into Russian by an indefinite form of a verb , e.g.: We try to minimize the old disadvantages. - Мы стараемся свести к минимуму, ранее имевшиеся недостатки.
3. Role of an attribute: in this case infinitive is put after the word which it relates to and is translated by a subordinate clause with the word «который». E.g.: The curves to be presented in Part V were obtained using this method. - Кривые, которые были представлены в главе V, были получены при помощи этого метода.
4. Role of a parenthetical word: infinitive is usually put at the beginning of a sentence and has commas. It can be translated by a verbal participle or by an indefinite form of a verb. E.g. To sum up, we shall present the table. - Подводя итог, приведем таблицу.
Examples of verbs that play the role of a parenthetical word in a sentence:
To begin with - прежде всего
To make a long story short - короче говоря
To mention – если упомянуть
To put it briefly - короче говоря
To put it simply – проще говоря
Needless to say - нет надобности говорить
To say nothing of – не говоря уже
Suffice it to say – достаточно сказать
To be exact – точнее говоря
To sum up – подводить итог.
5. Role of an adverbial modifier: it can be put at the beginning or at the end of a sentence and be translated by an indefinite form of a verb with the conjunctions : “чтобы”, “для того чтобы”.
There are two types of adverbial modifiers expressed in the form of infinitive:
b)Infinitive of a consequence - this infinitive is put at the end of a sentence and it is preceded by the following words: “too” - слишком, “enough” -достаточно, “sufficiently” - достаточно, “sufficient” - достаточный. E.g.: Some people are too proud enough to admit that they don’t know it. - Некоторые люди достаточно горды, чтобы признать, что они не знают этого.
Infinitive of the verbs: “to give” - давать, “to yield” - вызывать, “to provide” - обеспечивать, “to form” - образовывать should be translated as a verbal participle, e.g.: Condensation proceeded as usual to give corresponding compounds - Конденсация протекала обычным путем, давая соответствующие соединения.
Vocabulary
to seek (sought, sought) - разрабатывать
elution - элюирование
rotation - вращение
spectrum (pl. spectra) - спектр
enhancement - усиление