Translating a cookbook : What happens to non-finite clauses when translating into Swedish?

Abstract: This paper focuses on English non-finite clauses and their equivalences in a Swedish translation. The aim of the paper is to analyze non-finite clauses in an English cookbook and the methods that can be used for translating them into Swedish. Based on a theoretical background provided mainly by Huddleston and Pullum (2002) and Svartvik and Sager (1996), the non-finite clauses in the source text were identified and categorized according to which one of the three non-finite verb forms they were based on; infinitives, gerund-participles, or past-participles. They were then analyzed from a qualitative perspective in the analysis section, where various examples were discussed. The result shows that the need to restructure the sentences in the translation depends largely on the verb form in the source text. Infinitivals can often be translated directly, retaining the infinitival structure, whereas gerund-participials rarely remain gerund-participials in the translation. When the translation is not a non-finite clause, by necessity or for other reasons, it is commonly translated to a finite clause. When making a non-finite clause finite, it is often necessary to add a subject that has been implicit in the source text. This, however, seldom poses any difficulties.