Impersonal Verb Forms: the gerund, the participle, the infinitive, and constructions containing them.

The Gerund. In Russian there is no grammatical form like the gerund. In translations from English into Russian gerunds appear as nouns or verbs, the gerundial turn (оборот) is transformed into subordinate clause.
He advocates using this method. Он ратовал за использование этого метода.
Before mentioning this, Lord Russell says he has read a Russian book on space travel, which "was the reverse of warlike". Прежде, чем упомянуть этот факт, лорд Рассел сказал, что он читал русскую книгу о космических полетах, которая отнюдь не была воинственной.
In some cases the gerund is conveyed by means of the adverbial participle (деепричастие) or the participle.
Judy Grinham, the British Champion, put up her own best time ever in breaking the old record.
Английская чемпионка Джуди … показала наилучшее время, улучшив свой личный рекорд.

The Participle. P is used in English much more often than in Russian. In the latter it sounds more bookish. English has no active voice past participle (причастие прошедшего времени действительного залога), nor does it have the adverbial participle. The Russian language in its turn does not have the perfect participle (перфектная форма причастия). The differences cause certain problems in translation.
The English Present Participle is far from always translated by the Present Participle in Russian.
Fleur suddenly stood up leaning out of the window, with her chin on her hands.
Флер внезапно встала и, подперев руками подбородок, высунулась из окна. (глагол в личной форме)
He said that the strike movement "may turn into a national general strike bringing about the downfall of the dictatorship".
Он сказал, что забастовочное движение может превратиться во всеобщую забастовку, которая приведет к падению диктатуры.
Some Russian verbs having no adverbial participial form (деепричастия) , the Pr. Participle has to be conveyed by the personal form of the verb:
She sat sewing. - Она сидела и шила.
The Participle in the so called absolute form is always translated by the personal verb form, and the construction as a whole is usually translated by a subordinate clause or by a сочиненное предложение, as there is no absolute turn in Russian.
Agatha having stayed in with a cold, he had been to service himself.
Так как А из-за простуды осталась дома, он пошел в церковь один.
The following example (an elliptic construction) requires full syntactic rearrangement, even though analogous participial constructions are used.
When shot, Mrs. … was apparently taking a walk.
Миссис … была убита, очевидно, во время прогулки.
It is very characteristic of modern English definitions to employ compound adverbs composed of a past participle as the second part. Sometimes they match Russian definitions(1), but sometimes they do not(2).
Much-advertised policy. - Широко рекламируемая политика.(1)
Tory-directed policy. - Политика, направляемая консерваторами(2).

The Infinitive in English has a number of functions that do not come as functions of the Russian infinitive. The Continuous and Perfect infinitive forms are not present in Russian either. Therefore far from always can we translate the English infinitive by the indefinite form of a russian verb.
"The accusative case and the infinitive"(оборот "винительный падеж с инфинитивом") is usu. translated by a subordinate clause:
The chairman wanted the members of the commission to consider the report.
Председатель комиссии хотел, чтобы члены изучили доклад.
We can often come across "the nominative case (именительный)and the infinitive" in newspapers:
Three fishing boats are reported to be missing.
Сообщают, что три английские рыбачьи лодки пропали без вести.
The infinitive in its attributive function is usu. translated by a subordinate clause. Here it often has a modality and it must be conveyed too.
A council to be nominated by the governor of Malta…
Совет, который будет назначен …
The Perfect Infinitive is translated by the past tense.
These roads must have been built by the Romans.
Эти дороги, по-видимому, были построены римлянами.
The infinitive is often used to denote a future action.(especially in newspapers) This is usu. translated by the personal form of the verb:
Pritt to defend Macharia. - Притт будет защищать Макария.
But sometimes:
Bill and Boris to confer. - Предстоящее совещание Билла и Бориса. (Nouns are more common in Russian headlines than verbs)
Some problems may also arise from for-phrases:
I have closed the window for you not to catch cold. - Я закрыл окно, чтобы вы не простудились.

Translation of Causative Constructions.

Three-part constructions (saw him run) make up an important integral part of verbal syntactic complexes. In traditional grammar theory, they are viewed as combinations of a verb and a complex object. Constructions of the type comprise a predicate verb, an object, and an object predicate (объектный предикативный член).
The general term of complex object encompasses a broad variety of constructions. Theory of translation from English into Russian takes a special interest in that type of three-part constructions which bears causative implications. We call them imperative or causative constructions.
The theory distinguishes between:

a) constructions first unit of which is a causative verb;
b) constructions first unit of which are verbs to have or to get;
c) constructions first unit of which is a non-causative verb.

First unit is vividly causative in its meaning. (Verbs like to force, to compel, to cause, to make, etc.)
They forced him to leave the town. Они заставили его уехать из города.
(A) is not difficult for translation. Sometimes literal translation is possible.
In certain cases, the context may thoroughly eliminate the imperativeness of a causative verb:
I made polite conversation to make her feel "at home", but she was hard going.
Я завязал вежливую беседу, желая помочь ей почувствовать себя "как дома", но это оказалось нелегким делом.
A special type: an adverbial modifier (обстоятельство) takes the third position and the verb is only implied. The verb must be made out and mentioned in the translation.
Nothing could force him back. Ничто не могло заставить его вернуться назад.

B. To Have and To Get Constructions.

The special feature is that to have and to get are of somewhat lesser causative value. At the same time, it is the most common way of expressing causativity in modern English.
a) to have/to get + infinitive as the 3rd part;
b) to have/to get + participle II.
(a) the subject of the action is expressed;
(e.g.: We must get him to help the old people. Мы должны заставить его помочь этим старикам.)
(b) the subject of the action isn't expressed.(e.g.: She made a new dress. Она пошила себе платье.
She had a new dress made. Она пошила себе платье.)
Constructions of the type, especially the ones with to have, may be non-causative:
He had his horse killed. 1) Он приказал убить свою лошадь. Or
2) Под ним убили лошадь.

C. Non-causative Verbs Constructions.

The Russian language does not have such structures.
The Tories declare that we cannot spend ourselves into prosperity.
Консерваторы заявляют, что увеличением расходов нельзя добиться процветания.
Seldom, but they do, intransitive verbs occur at the first position. They are especially hard to translate, and even to understand:
The servant bowed him into the parlour. Слуга с поклонами провел его в гостиную.

So: Structure alterations, смысловая конкретизация, and other methods of contextual alterations (замен) are used most often here.

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