Đi đến phần nội dung

When to use "por" before an infinitive verb?

viết bởi bd77, Ngày 17 tháng 5 năm 2014

Tin nhắn: 6

Nội dung: English

bd77 (Xem thông tin cá nhân) 13:12:45 Ngày 17 tháng 5 năm 2014

I keep coming across different situations when "por" is placed in front of an infinitive verb and other times when it isn't, but I can't seem to figure out what when its meant to be used. Two sentences in the Vere aŭ Fantazie story for example:

#1 "se mi nun prenos iom de via tempo por klarigi"
#2 "mi havis la grandan feliĉon multe vojaĝi tra la mondo"

Why isn't the first sentence "de via tempo klarigi", if klarigi means "to explain"? Or why isn't the second sentence "la grandan feliĉon por vojaĝi"? I feel like there is some sort of rule that I'm not seeing, about when por should be used in front of an infinitive and when it shouldn't.

Thanks

Fenris_kcf (Xem thông tin cá nhân) 15:25:29 Ngày 17 tháng 5 năm 2014

bd77:I feel like there is some sort of rule that I'm not seeing, about when por should be used in front of an infinitive and when it shouldn't.
Indeed, there is. The confusion is most likely caused by the fact, that English uses "to" for both situations. I think you can utilize the following rule: If it is possible to use "in order to" instead of just "to" or if there's a proper representation with "for" and a noun, it is to be translated with "por", e.g. in sentence #1 ("if i will take some of your time to clarify" ):

"if i will take some of your time in order to clarify"
"if i will take some of your time for clarification"

One can't do that with sentence #2 ("i had the great pleasure to travel around the world quite often" ).

bd77 (Xem thông tin cá nhân) 23:54:22 Ngày 17 tháng 5 năm 2014

Fenris_kcf:
bd77:I feel like there is some sort of rule that I'm not seeing, about when por should be used in front of an infinitive and when it shouldn't.
Indeed, there is. The confusion is most likely caused by the fact, that English uses "to" for both situations. I think you can utilize the following rule: If it is possible to use "in order to" instead of just "to" or if there's a proper representation with "for" and a noun, it is to be translated with "por", e.g. in sentence #1 ("if i will take some of your time to clarify" ):

"if i will take some of your time in order to clarify"
"if i will take some of your time for clarification"

One can't do that with sentence #2 ("i had the great pleasure to travel around the world quite often" ).
OK, I think I get it now. Thanks.

sudanglo (Xem thông tin cá nhân) 12:39:45 Ngày 18 tháng 5 năm 2014

Yes, the 'in order to' substitution rule can be quite helpful, but I am not sure that it will work in all cases.

For example:

Mi havas nenion por manĝi (nothing to eat)

Por diri la veron .... (to tell you the truth)

Fenris_kcf (Xem thông tin cá nhân) 13:09:11 Ngày 18 tháng 5 năm 2014

sudanglo:Mi havas nenion por manĝi (nothing to eat)
Ah, yes, that's one more situation where "to" is used. It this case one can replace "to eat" with "eatable" (not sure if that's a word at all, but in principle).

sudanglo:Por diri la veron .... (to tell you the truth)
Hmm, "in order to tell the truth" and "for telling the truth" are not correct?

sparksbet (Xem thông tin cá nhân) 02:56:21 Ngày 19 tháng 5 năm 2014

Fenris_kcf: Ah, yes, that's one more situation where "to" is used. In this case one can replace "to eat" with "eatable" (not sure if that's a word at all, but in principle).
I believe the word you're searching for is "edible."

In any case, that sentence can be written using "for," as well: "I have nothing for eating." Not exactly Shakespeare, but it illustrates why "por" is used pretty well.

Quay lại