2015-08-21
611
1. The comparison of the basic features of the English verb with those of the Ukrainian one.
2. The short review of grammatical categories
a) aspects
b) tense
c) voice
3. Several ways of rendering English passive constructions into Ukrainian.
The interpretation of technical English requires grammar skills. We start with grammatical area known to be difficult — the English verb.
We shall now work out the comparison of the basic features of the English verb with those of the Ukrainian and Russian verb.
Their meanings are fundamentally the same; both in English, in Ukrainian and in Russian the verb serves to denote an action, a process.
As to their stem-building elements, we note a greater variety and abundance of stem-building affixes in Ukrainian, both suffixes and prefixes (-нича-, -ича-, -е-, -ова-, -ева-, -ствова, etc; в-, воз-, вы-, пере-, за-, из-, на-, etc.). The number of verb-building suffixes in English is limited (-ize, -ify, -en, -ate) though the prefixes are fairly numerous (de-, dis-, mis-, over-, re-, un-). The most productive way of forming verbs in Modern English is conversion which is not characteristic of Ukrainian or Russian.
The dissimilarity between English, Ukrainian and Russian verbs is more pronounced when we come to compare their grammatical categories.
The English verb has the category of time correlation showing whether the action is viewed as prior to ('perfect') or irrespective of ('non-perfect') other actions and situations (writes — had written, wrote — had written) and the category of posteriority showing whether the action is posterior with regard to the moment of speech or to some moment in the past (will come - would come, shall be writing — should be writing). Such categories are not found in Ukrainian. The Ukrainian verb has the categories of gender and case, alien to English (читала; читавший; читавшего/читала etc.).
Categories of the same name have distinctions in the two languages.
English and Ukrainian and Russian aspects are not identical, though the general principle underlying the differentiation wrote — was writing, писал — написал/писав — написав is the same: they show the character of the action.
In English there are two aspects: the continuous aspect, which shows that the action is taken in its progress, in its development and the non-continuous aspect which indicates that the action is simply stated, its nature being unspecified: 'works — is working, has worked — has been working.
In English the continuous aspect lays stress on the continuity of the action. When no specification is intended the non-continuous aspect is employed. In Ukrainian the perfective aspect accentuates the entirety of the action (or Mime stage of the action): він проспівав, він заспівав. When no specification is wanted, the imperfective aspect is used.
Tense is a grammatical category of the verb showing the relation of the time of the action denoted by the verb to the moment of speech. There are three tenses both in English and the present tense, the past tense and the future tense and four tenses in Ukrainian (теперішній, минулий, давноминулий і майбутній).
Though English, Ukrainian tenses have much in common, in English we distinguish numerous verbal forms (the so-called tense forms) in which the meanings of tense, aspect and time correlation are closely interlaced: Present Indefinite, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Indefinite, Past Continuous, etc.
Voice is a grammatical category of the verb which shows the relation between the action and its agent (doer). It shows whether the subject is the doer of the action or whether it is acted upon. There are two main voices in English: the active voice and the Passive voice. The active voice indicates that the action is performed by the subject of the sentence and the passive voice represents the action as experienced by its subject.
The passive voice is formed with the help of the auxiliary verb be in the corresponding tense-form and the past participle of the notional verb.
| Indefinite | Continuous | Perfect | Perfect Continuous | |
| Present | is written | am/is/are being written | have/has been written | — |
| Past | was/were written | was/were being written | had been written | — |
| Future | shall/will be written | — | shall/will have been written | — |
| Future in the-Past | should/ would be written | — | should/would have been written | — |
The passive voice is used when the doer of the action is unknown, not very important, or when the speaker doesn't want to mention it. When the doer is mentioned, it is introduced by prepositions by or with: Multiplication is done by electronic machines. The tin was opened with a knife.
Scientific and technical texts are characterized by the frequent use of passive constructions. Scientific experiments are generally described in the passive voice, for example, Then acid was taken, instead of / (we) then took acid. To write I weighed 10 grams of aspirin and dissolved them in as little water as I could would be deplorable in a research paper. The desirable plain scientific statement would be Ten grams of aspirin were dissolved in a minimum volume of water.
Passive constructions are used in scientific prose to achieve the impersonal tone of expression. They create the impression that things "were done" and that nobody "did them." the impersonality of scientific writings can also be considered I typical feature of this style.
In connection with the general impersonal tone of expression, it should be noted that impersonal passive constructions are frequently used with the verbs suppose, assume, presume, conclude, infer, point out, etc., as in It should be pointed out, It must not be assumed, It must be emphasized, It can be inferred, etc.
The passive voice is more standard and common in English than in Ukrainian. In Ukrainian only transitive verbs which have a direct object are used in the passive voice, e.g. St. Petersburg was founded in 1703. — Санкт-Петербур г був заснований у 1703 p. The subject of the passive construction corresponds in this case to the direct object of the active construction.
In English not only transitive but many intransitive verbs are used in the passive voice (to account for, to agree upon, to Arrive at, to comment on, to depend on, to dispose on, to insist on, to interfere with, to laugh at, to look after, to object to, to provide for, to speak of, to send for, to wait for, etc.). The subject of a passive construction may correspond not only to direct object of the active construction, but also to an indirect object or prepositional object, e.g. A symbol is given to each of the presently known chemical elements. Each of the presently known chemical elements is given a symbol derived from the name of the element. The interpreter had been sent for before the delegation arrived.
There are several ways of rendering English passive constructions into Ukrainian. The way you choose should depend on the verb (its meaning) as well as on the context:
(1) identical construction (бути + passive past participle or verbal form ending in -но, -то), e.g. This energy barrier has first been directly measured in 1985. — Вперше цей енергетичний бар'єр був безпосередньо виміряний в 1985 р. Heat was transformed into work. – Тепло було перетворено в роботу. Radio was first discovered in 1895 by A. S. Popov. Радіо було вперше винайдено в 1895 році О.С. Поповим.
(2) A verb ending in –ся, e.g. A device for measuring pressure is called manometer. – Пристрій для вимірювання тиску називаеться манометром. This experiment was conducted in our laboratory. – Цей експеримент проводився в нашs й лабораторії. The energy is dissipated in the iron in the form of heat. Енергія розсіюється у залізі у формі тепла.
(3) An indefinite-personal sentence, e. g. These tools are used to cut and form metal parts. – Ці інструменти використовують для вирізання і формування металевих деталей. A new device for measuring swing pressure is being designed now. - Зараз проектують новий прилад для вимірювання тиску. Foreign scientists were shown a new device. - Зарубіжним вченим показали новий прилад.
Also consider the following examples:It is said (believed, expected) that the book will be of great services to our technical experts. – Кажуть(припускають, вважають, очікують), що книга буде корисною для наших інженерів.
(4) a verb in the Active voice: This was conducted by our research workers. – Цей експеримент провели наші наукові працівники. These fears reiterated by the representative of the Medical Association. – Ці ж побоювання висловив також і представник Асоціації лікарів. Bilateral talks between delegations were followed by a general conference. – Після двохсторонніх переговорів між делегаціями розпочалась загальна конференція.
