Ways and means of expressing modality in english and ukrainian

може бути виключена з ООН Генеральною Асамблеєю згідно рекомендації Ради Безпеки. (Статут Організації' Об'єднаних Націй).

h) The modal verb may/might followed by a perfect infinitive often expresses supposition, desire, uncertainty, probability, etc., of actions which might not have been carried out. When isolated from a contextual environment, the construction of may/might with the perfect infinitive may be treated as polysemantic and consequently offered different interpretatations in Ukrainian. Thus, the sentence «She may have forgotten, you know; or got the evening mixed.» (Galsworthy) may have the following five faithful (from the translator's point of view) interpretetions/variants:

1) «Знаєте, вона мабуть забула чи сплутала вечір.»

2) «Вона певне забула або сплутала вечір.»

3) «Можливо, вона забула чи сплутала вечір.»

4) «Цілком імовірно, що вона забула чи сплутала вечір.»

5) «Знаєте, а може вона забула чи сплутала вечір.» і) There appears still more uncertainty while conveying the meaning of may/might with the negated perfect infinitive as in the sentence «The aircraft might not have been downed in the action.» (USA Today) The lexical ambiguity of the construction can be seen from the following possible variants of its interpretation in Ukrainian:

1) Літак може й не збито в тім бою.

2) Літак мабуть не збито в тім бою.

3) Цілком імовірно, що літак не був збитий у тому бою.

4) Навряд чи літак був збитий у тому бою.

5) Може літака й не збили в тому бою.

These meanings of may/might are naturally realized through the infinitive forming the content core of the modal predicate in the sentence.

In many sentences the modal verb might adds a subjunctive meaning to the predicate, which it is a part of, as in the following example:

Mrs.Gerhardt thought of all Дженні Ґергардт перебрала 
the places to which she might й усі інші місця, де можна було 
apply. (Dreiser) б спитати про роботу.

 

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Exercise I. Before translating the sentences into Ukrainian, state the meaning (supposition, probability, assumption, uncertainty, permission, etc.) expressed by the modal verb may/ might. Suggest the use of the stative можна or the adverb можливо (with or without a modal particle) where necessary.

1. «They may not like it.» 2. «She may and she may not prove to be a riddle to me.» (Dreiser) 3. Erik says that you may be coming to New York. (M.Wilson) 4. He may have to go to Monte Carlo with his father. (O.Wilde) 5. There may be a number of benefits. 6. Many non-Americans may be aware of the geographical size of the United States. 7. Other aspects of America may be a far more serious challenge to our experts. (D.K.Stevenson) 8. The hospital might receive money now or it might not. 9. «I suppose I might be difficult to live with. (Hailey) 10. Anything might happen. (G.Greene) 11. «We might dine together.» (Christie) 12. «She was afraid he might die before she had done so.» (H.James) 13. I thought you might be glad to learn of my good fortune. (O.Henry) 14. «Sometimes when Mr. de Winter is away and you feel lonely, you might like to come up to these rooms and sit here.» (Du Maurier) 15. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy's side. (C.S.Lewis) 16. ... her heart might be lonely, but her lips continued to sing. 17. Yes, he might be called a successful man. (Dreiser) 18. You might see nothing in him. (O.Wilde) 19. «There's one thing that might work, might give us a better pointer. That's X-ray. If there's a tumor, X-ray might show it.» 20. It might be dangerous, if we get a disease carrier at the hospital. (Hailey) 21. This may be the reason of their refusal to join us. (J.F.Cooper) 22. «She might be a duchess.» 23. «I may be very stupid, but I can't make head or tail of what you're saying.» (Maugham) 24. «You might as well ask for a reflection without a mirror.» 25. «You may or may not be right on that point, Hastings.» (Christie) 26. «Perhaps I may keep the handkerchief. (C.S.Lewis) 27. I told her she might fool me but she couldn't fool God. (Fitzgerald) 28. «... but you may as well get what you can out of it.» (Maugham) 29. A fool may ask more questions than a wise man can answer. (Proverb) 30. «If I may introduce myself, I am Mr.Chou's manager.» (Greene) 31. She might come-this afternoon if she wants to.» 32. «They might all be wrecked by such fast driving.» (Dreiser).

Exercise II. Offer the most fitting lexical equivalents for the modal verb may/might with the perfect infinitive in each sentence below and after that translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

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1. They may not have said anything about it. (H.Munro) 2. If they had been in the room then, she might have murdered them. (J.Cheever) 3. «That may not have occured to you that it would be rather a shock to a girl to find out that her husband had lived for ten years with another girl and had three children.» (Hemingway) 4. She may have had no particular feeling for him. 5. For all, we know they may have settled down into a most domestic couple. (Christie) 6. Miss Matfield might have been very sorry for him. (J.Priestley) 7. «Well, he might have been murdered by the Vietminh.» (Greene) 8. «He looked at Hilda; he might have been looking at a stranger.» (Bennett) 9. «You might have told me earlier - what you told me on Wednesday night.» 10. It may have been a healthy wind, but the effect on the nerves was evil. (Bennett) 11. Wolf too had disappeared, but he might have strayed away after a squirrel or a partridge. (W.lrving) 12. «You might have told us that half an hour ago.» (B.Shaw) 13. Of course, there were many things, I might have answered to this.» (Christie) 14. «If I had remained a rich man, I might have lost it for good and all.» 15. «And we might have been so happy.» (Maugham) 16. «Catherine, who might have said anything didn't say a word.» 17. Of course, she might have loved her for a minute. (Fitzgerald)

3. The modal verb must has also some peculiar features of its own. Borrowed by Ukrainian from German through Polish, this verb in English and Ukrainian expresses strong obligation, duty, necessity. In these meanings must has for its direct lexical equivalents the strongest Ukraininan modal verb of this same meaning мусити.

a) «Now I really must get back «Тепер я мушу серйозно 
to my tasks. End of term in sight, взятись за роботу. Знаєш, 
you know.» (Murdoch) скоро кінець семестру.»

We must eat, we must drink, Ми мусимо їсти, пити і and we rnust be merry. (Saying) мусимо завжди бути веселими.

b) Not without the long influence of the Russian language, which was for some centuries a dominant political factor in Ukraine, the modal verb мусити has been more often substituted by urban Ukrainians for its almost as strong semantically Ukrainian synonym повинен or for the modal stative треба. То convey the meaning of necessity, duty or obligation, expressed by the modal verb must. whose direct Ukrainian equivalent is still often avoided on the aforenamed grounds, present-day Ukrainians often resort to the ad-

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ditional use of the modal adverb обов'язково:

«I must sit down. This leg gets «Я мушу/повинен сісти, 
tired.» (Greene) Щось поболює оця нога.»

«You must certainly send it «Ти повинен обов'язково вис- 
(picture) next year to the тавити портрет наступного 
Grosvenor.» (О. Wilde) року у павільйоні Ґросвенор.

The meaning ofmi/sfin both English sentences above directly corresponds to our Ukrainian мусити, which is also proved by the use of the intensifying modal adverb обов'язково in the last sentence.

It may naturally not always be clear from an isolated sentence, which of the possible meanings the modal verb must expresses: that of the strongest (мусити) or those of the somewhat weaker ones (повинен, треба). Thus, from Martin Eden's words in the sentence below is not clear whether it is Ruth's duty, moral/presumptive obligation or her necessity to address her father: «And you must tell your father for me.» (London) Hence, the translator may suggest three posible equivalents for this modal meaning of must in Ukrainian:

1) «I/A ти мусиш сказати це за мене батькові.» (duty, obligation)

2) «I/A ти повинна сказати це за мене батькові.» (necessity)

3) «І/А тобі треба самій сказати це за мене батькові.» (presumptive obligation)

с) The translator may sometimes choose the Ukrainian lexical equivalent of must under the influence of the traditionally established usage of a modal meaning in his native tongue. Thus, the meaning of necessity, obligation following from a prescription or rule, may often be expressed in Ukrainian through strict logical word order or via some other finite verbs with the intensifying adverb, as can be observed in the following sentences:

сіли в  затишному куточку...

Конституцією  США встановлено, що державний перепис («поголівний облік») населення повинен проводитися кожні десять років.

«I musn't take the money,» «Я ніколи не візьму цих гро- 
said Carry, after they were set- шей,»- відповіла Керрі, коли вони

tied in a cosy corner... (Dreiser) The Constitution of the US specifies that a nationwide census, a «head count» of all Americans, must be taken every ten years. (O.K. Stevenson) 

d) When expressing assumption or supposition, the modal verb must may have for its lexical equivalent in Ukrainian a contextually fitting modal adverb or a modal particle:

«Він мабуть/не як з глузду з'їхав!-вигукнувполковник. (Та ж він просто з глузду з'їхав!)

«Топ хлопець певне/як залізний. Він ніколи не стомлюється.»

«Якщо я почуваюсь  так, це означає, що моє серце більш не витримує.»

«He must be as mad as a hatter!» exclaimed the Colonel. (Christie)

«That fellow must be made of steel. He's never tired.» (R.Warren)

«If I feel this way, my heart must be broken.» (Hemingway)

e) Some meanings of this modal verb are formally obligatory in English, where they express obligation or certainty but they may not have an explicit expression of these meanings in Ukrainian:

«I must apologize, Agnes, I'm «прошу вибачити. Еґнес; 
very sorry...» (Coward) мені дуже жаль. »/«Перепро-

шую. Еґнес, мені дуже прикро.»

«І thought you must be «я думала, що тебе нема 
away.» (Maugham) вдома/що ти вже пішов.»

f) Therefore, the usual meaning of must in some Ukrainian contexts may be weaker than in the English language original where it clearly expresses certainty, duty or obligation. Consequently, it can not be substituted in Ukrainian for either the modal verb мусити or for its weaker variant повинен. Then, some other equivalents have to be chosen for such nationally predetermined meanings of must. For instance:

«What must you have thought «Що ти міг тільки подумати 
of me?» (Maugham) про мене?»

«It must seem very funny to «Це може здатися /певне 
you.» (Galsworthy) здається тобі/дуже дивним.»

«Were the people looking at Чи люди дивилися на неї? her? They must be.» (Mansfield) Мабуть./Напевне. ш.о так.»

Some contextual meanings of must have a national Ukrainian non-explicit expression of modality. For example: «Come, Dave, you must see.» (London)

«Ходіть-но, Дейве, подивіться.» or: «Ходи-но, Дейве, на свої

очі пересвідчишся.»

 

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g) The Ukrainian modal verb мусити or повинен is to be used, however, when conveying the meaning of the English syntagmeme have got (to) with the indefinite infinitive having the function of the compound modal verbal predicate:

(Greene)

«Doris, l say to you.» (Hemingway)

«I've got to stay sober.»         «Я   повинен/маю   бути

тверезим.»

jot something to         «Доріс, я маю/повинен тобі дещо сказати.»

h) The modal verb must when used with the perfect infinitive usually expresses actions supposed to have taken or not taken place but of which the speaker is mostly informed. The meaning of thus expressed action is usually rendered into Ukrainian with the help of the modal adverbs or particles можливо, очевидно, мабуть, напевно, певне:

«Не must have fallen off when we left the first bull.» (Hemingway)

«Зброєносець певне випав з машини, коли ми від'їхали від першого застреленого буйвола.»

Тут лікар Браун промовив:

«Цей чоловік  уже мертвий певне з тиждень.»

So Dr. Brown's whispered words: «The man must have been dead a week.» (Greene)

Some probable action expressed by the modal verb must with the negative particle not and the perfect infinitive shows that the action might have been carried out. Though other interpretations, i.e., expressions of the meaning are not excluded either:

She must not have followed        Вона   не   повинна   була 
the advice ... (Austen) виконувати цю пораду...

Some other interpretations of this modal verb with the perfect infinitive construction may be quite opposite to that in the sentence above. Namely:

1) Навряд чи вона послухалася  тієї поради.

2) Не може бути, щоб вона послухалася  тієї поради.

3) їй не треба було слухатися  тієї поради.

As in the similar case with may/might plus the perfect infinitive, there may be also other contextual meanings of must with the perfect or indefinite/continuous infinitive. These meanings can also be found in the compound modal predicates of sentences given in the exercises that follow. 

Exercise I. Analyse each sentence first and offer a suitable Ukrainian equivalent (мусити, повинен, треба, маю etc.) for the modal verb must. Then translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. «Accidents can happen to anybody, darling. You mustn't blame yourself.» (S.Sheldon) 2. «Only you must give me your clothes, too.» (A.Bierce) 3. «You mustn't stare at people when they pass,» continued mother. 4. To succeed one must do something - one must associate, at least seem to associate with those who were foremost in the world of appearences. (Dreiser) 5. «I'll telephone. They must see the faces of many people you've heard about.» (Fitzgerald) 6. This brings us to the last factor that must be kept in mind. 7. They must have local public support, because citizens vote directly on how much they want to pay for school taxes. (D.K.Stevenson) 8. «We must go as quickly as we can.» 9. In the meantime we must make the best of the situation. (C.Lewis) 10. «I must be left to myself fora while.» 11. «They mustn't take him into my house.» (Maugham) 12. «Adam, you must not leave the house.» 13. To be popular, one must be a mediocrity. 14. «I go on board to-night for India, and I must do my job first.» (Wilde) 15. «He must know that infatuation won't last.» 16. «He must be treated with infinite tact.» 17. «But you mustn't go with me, you wouldn't understand. I must show them to you myself.» (Christie) 18. «I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach.» (J.Austen) 19. «But according to your category I must be merely an acquaintance.» (Wilde) 20. «Still I must sleep.» (Hemingway) 21. An articled clerk must pass the necessary examinations held by the Law Society. (I.Tenson) 22. «I must acquit you of criminality.» (A.Bierce) 23. «But we mustn't talk here.» (Galsworthy)

Exercise H. Translate the sentences containing the modal verb must with different forms of the infinitive. Use one of the following (or some other) fitting Ukrainian equivalents for the purpose: повинен, певне, мабуть, треба, змушений, зобов'язаний, маю, etc.

1. «She must be in New York by now.» (M.Wilson) 2. They must be in a bad way truly. 3. «It must cost a good deal to live here, don't you think?» 4. «It must be nice to be famous,» said the girl softly. 5. The neighbourhood they lived in must be very poor. 6. Mrs. Gerhardt commented upon this repealing again and again: how good he must be or how large must be his heart. (Dreiser) 7. «Must be interesting?» he said. (Christie) 8. «We heard it from three people, so it must be true.» (Fitzgerald) 9. The boy must be forty by now.

 

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(Galsworthy) 10. «You must be too hard,» he smiled back. (Hemingway) 11. Alcohol must help somewhat in fighting arteriosclerosis. (D.K.Stevenson) 12. «You must know, Gatsby.» 13. Some words of this conversation must have reached Wilson swaying in the office door... 14. She must have seen something of this expression for she turned abruptly away... 15. She must have broken her rule against drinking that night. 16. «You must have gone to church once.» 17.1 must have felt pretty weired at that time, because I could think of nothing else. 18. It (the car) must have killed her instantly. 19. He must have looked up at the unfamiliar sky. (Fitzgerald) 20. «He must have been in the river,» the woman said. (S.Barstow) 21. But even when she laughed she must have'been one of the servants. (Maugham) 22. These must have been expensive cigars. (J.Priestley) 23. But you must have seen pictures of her. (Christie) 24. «You must have got mixed up in something in Chicago.» (Hemingway) 25. What he saw in that room must have frightened him terribly. (J.Kierzek) 26. «I have read your feelings, and I think you must have penetrated mine». (J.Austen)

4. The modal verb have (to) is of common lexical nature in English and Ukrainian, where its meaning in all substyles corresponds to the verb мати as in the following examples:

a) «Oh, I have to tell you «О, мамо, я маю вам щось something, mamma.» (Dreiser) сказати/розповісти.»

«Don't forget, we have to pay «Пам'ятай, що ми маємо 
the library. (Hemingway) платити бібліотеці.»

b) Depending on the lexical meaning of the infinitive that forms the compound modal predicate with it, the modal verb have (to) may often become close to that of the Ukrainian modal verbs повинен, мусити, to the stative треба or to the modal adverb потрібно/ необхідно:

«Бачите, нам, бідним художникам, треба/необхідно показу-ватися час від часу на людях.»

«Ми маємо/повинні робити все, що можемо.»

«Вам треба буде/ 
доведеться взавтра 
попрацювати/взятись краще, 
ніж оце зараз.»

«You know we, poor artists, have to show ourselves in society from time to time. (Wilde)

«We have to do everything we can.» (Hemingway)

«You'll have to pull harder than this tomorrow. (Hemingway) 

c) In some contextual environment, however, the meaning of have to may be very close if not equivalent to must (мусити/ повинен):

«I have to leave you here.» «Я змушений/повинен покину- 
(Fitzgerald) ти/залишити тебе тут.»

«І have to tell you I find your «Повинен/мушу сказати, твоя 
work just a little too stark.» робота/праця видається мені 
(Hemingway) трохи заважкою.»

d) The modal meaning of the verb have to may be predetermined by the peculiarity of usage and singularity of expressing the same modal meaning in the source language and in the target language, which may sometimes coincide as in the sentence below:

«And what have we to do with «А що нам/маємо робити з 
the lives of those who toil for us?» життями тих, котрі як чорні 
(Wilde) воли важко працюють на нас?»

As can be seen, translation of the modal verb have (to) may be influenced by various factors which should be taken into consideration while choosing its lexical equivalent in Ukrainian.

Exercise I. Suggest an appropriate lexical equivalent for the modal verb have (to) in the sentences below and translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. «You don't have to do it.» 2. «You have to go back to school.» (Salinger) 3. «If you gain anything, you will have to fight for it.» 4. «Times are hard ... I have my family to keep.» 5. «You will have to wait until you hear from me again.» (Dreiser) 6. «We've got to go to bed.» 7. «She's not to know about it.» (Fitzgerald) 8. «Hadn't we better put a little bit of stick or something between each word.?» (Kipling) 9. «Doris, I've got something to say to you.»10. «He'd have nothing more to do with the woman and Macomber would get over that too.» (Hemingway) 11. «... under my oath I've got to try to catch the criminal.» (Saroyan) 12. «Shan't we have to risk it?» (C.S.Lewis) 13. «Well, we've got a little business to talk about,» said Boom confidently. (W.Jacobs) 14. «All I had to look forward was doing the same old thing day after day.» (Maugham) 15. «How long did you have to stay there?» (F.Cooper) 16. «You don't have to be an alcoholic to hurt your baby; you just have to be drinking enough while pregnant.» (Alcohol, the Legal Drug) 17. «I must write stories and they have to be stories that will sell.» (Salinger) 18. «Bob has to be on duty at the

 

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hospital at nine o'clock.»  (J.King) 19. «You have to take it.» (Dreiser) 20. «She and Diana, have a lot to arrange together.» 21. «... you've still got to take it easy.» (F.King)