infinitive complements

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

If you have a present verb + infinitive complement, would you want the infinitive to be perfective, imperfective, or is it a matter of emphasis/nuance/meaning?

For instance, in a friend's journal, she asked for a translation of the sentence "I am here to defend my beloved" (she actually asked for it into Latin, but my brain automatically started providing the Russian). The Yandex gives защищать/защитить for "defend"; which one would be used in this case?

Comments

[quasar3c273.livejournal.com]

I'm not a linguist, maybe there is some special rule, but to my knowledge and "russian" point of view it is a matter of emphasis/nuance/meaning here. You should choose the variant that suits the situation.

1. Я здесь, чтобы защитить свою возлюленную.
2. Я здесь, чтобы защищать свою возлюленную.

[kolik.livejournal.com]

возлюбленную

Помощь...

[kasak.livejournal.com]

In the case of "I am here to defend my beloved," you should use Imperfective, since it is an action which has not been accomplished, and it is not a singly-defined action: it's on-going.

"Я здесь, чтобы защищать свою любимую!"

There is no real nuance involved here, since the first part of the sentence is present tense, which would imply that imperfective would be used here. Perfective with past tense would mean it happened once or will only happen once or is sure to happen on a single occasion:

"Я был/буду здесь, чтобы защитить свою любимую!"

Imperfective would mean you've had or may have to to defend your beloved on multiple occasions or it is a habitual act:

"Я был/буду здесь, чтобы защищать свою любимую!"

If there is anyone out there who thinks this is incorrect in any way, please correct me, but this is just what sounds right to me. While not a native speaker, I did grow up hearing it, but totally stopped speaking and hearing it for 7 years before picking it up again at the university.

[miram.livejournal.com]

Я здесь для того, чтобы защищать свою любимую.
Я здесь для того, чтобы защитить свою любимую.

Both variants are possible, IMHO.

[belaja.livejournal.com]

actually, it depends on the context
"защищать" - if the action is prolonged meaning " i am here to defend my beloved from now on"
"защитить" - if the action takes place only once, " i am here to defend my beloved right now, because s\he needs to be defended now, in this very situation"

being a native speaker =)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Целиком и полностью согласен с предыдущим оратором :))
(Completely and totally agree with the previous speaker)

[kidd79.livejournal.com]

As one more native speaker, i agree too. ;)