Set expressions with infinitives
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Устойчивые выражения с инфинитивом
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Set expressions containing infinitives, such as "needless to say; so to speak; to be quite frank; to make matters worse; to put it mildly; to say the least; to tell the truth", are used as parenthetical words. For example:
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Устойчивые выражения, содержащие инфинитив, такие как "needless to say; so to speak; to be quite frank; to make matters worse; to put it mildly; to say the least; to tell the truth", употребляются как вводные слова. Например:
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To be quite frank, I didn't want to lend him my books.
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Честно говоря, я не хотел давать ему мои книги.
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Needless to say, he lost my books.
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Не стоит и говорить, что он потерял мои книги.
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Split infinitive
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Разделённый инфинитив
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A split infinitive is a construction in which the adverb that modifies the infinitive is placed between the particle "to" and the infinitive. Split infinitives are quite common in informal English speech.
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Разделённый инфинитив – это конструкция, в которой наречие, которое определяет инфинитив, помещено между частицей "to" и инфинитивом. Разделённый инфинитив весьма часто встречается в разговорной английской речи.
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Generally, style manuals say that the particle "to" should not be separated from the infinitive without necessity, especially in writing.
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В целом, справочники по стилю говорят, что частица "to" не должна быть отделена от инфинитива без необходимости, особенно в письменной речи.
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For example, splitting the infinitive in the following sentences is considered unnecessary: They want to quickly sell the house. He seems to often complain about it. In such cases, it is better to use more typical constructions: They want to sell the house quickly. He seems to complain about it often.
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Например, разделение инфинитива в следующих предложениях считается ненужным: They want to quickly sell the house. He seems to often complain about it. В таких случаях, лучше употребить более типичные конструкции: They want to sell the house quickly. He seems to complain about it often. (Они хотят быстро продать дом. Видимо, он часто жалуется насчёт этого.)
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However, in some cases placing the adverb between the particle "to" and the infinitive is preferable to placing that adverb in any other part of the sentence because such use may help to express the meaning more clearly and may even help to avoid possible misunderstanding of the whole sentence. The adverbs "really, fully, even, never, ever" are rather often placed between the particle "to" and the infinitive.
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Однако в некоторых случаях помещение наречия между частицей "to" и инфинитивом предпочтительно помещению этого наречия в любой другой части предложения, т.к. это может помочь выразить значение более ясно или даже может помочь избежать возможного неправильного понимания всего предложения. Наречия "really, fully, even, never, ever" довольно часто помещаются между частицей "to" и инфинитивом.
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For example, look at this sentence: She always tried to really understand young children and their hopes and fears. If we move "really" to some other places, the meaning will change, the construction will become awkward or incorrect: always really tried to understand; always tried really to understand; to understand really young children; to understand young children and their hopes and fears really.
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Например, посмотрите на это предложение: She always tried to really understand young children and their hopes and fears. (Она всегда старалась действительно понять маленьких детей и их надежды и страхи.) Если мы передвинем "really" в другие места, значение изменится, конструкция станет громоздкой или неправильной: always really tried to understand; always tried really to understand; to understand really young children; to understand young children and their hopes and fears really.
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A hundred years ago, the split infinitive was considered to be bad writing style. Nowadays split infinitives are becoming more acceptable in speech and writing. It is advisable for language learners to use split infinitives sparingly and only when such use is necessary for clear and correct expression of the meaning.
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