CHAPTER II. 
THE OBJECTIVE INFINITIVE. 
A. THE ACTIVE INFINITIVE. 
1. With Active Finite Verb. 
The active infinitive as the Object of an active verb occurs about 3238 
times. The objective infinitive is more commonly uninflected than inflected, 
there being 2709 examples of the former to 529 of the latter. Of the total of 
3238 examples of the objective infinitive, about 508 occur in the poetry, of 
which 491 examples are uninflected and 17 are inflected. As to the prose, the 
objective use of the infinitive is found in Early West Saxon and in Late West 
Saxon, in the more original prose as well as in the translations from the Latin. 
The objective infinitive, whether uninflected or inflected, normally follows 
the finite verb, but in each form occasionally precedes it, both in prose and in 
poetry. With the uninflected infinitive, pre-position is found nearly 150 
times in the prose out of a total of 2216 and about 115 times in the poems out of 
a total of 491. In the prose, pre-position is not infrequently due to the fact that 
in the Latin original the infinitive precedes the finite verb, as in Bede 412.26 
(he ba his geferum . . . brytian gemde = 298.25: prodesse curabat) and ib. 
426.3 (ic oft scecgan herde = 305.16: de . . . tormentibus . . . narrari . . . 
audivi ); occasionally to the fact that the infinitive occurs in a dependent clause, 
as in Mlf. L. S. 286.62 (bonne we bee raedab obbe rcedan gehyrad) and ib. 502.255 
(ba halgan be he ealre worulde . . . onwreon gemynte). But neither of these 
two influences is strong enough to counteract the general tendency to post¬ 
position, which is frequently found under such conditions, as in Weerf. 207.4 
(se bera . . ., bone he gewunode for bilewitnesse brobor cigan = 252 C 4 : vocare 
consueverat) and ib. 84.18 (he ongan . . . weopan = 209 A 5 : flere . . . ceepit). 
In the poetry, pre-position is relatively more frequent than in the prose, and 
seems to be due in many cases to the exigencies of meter, the infinitive often 
carrying the alliterating letter, as in Beow. 3095 (worn eall gespraec gomol on 
gehbo and eowic gretan het) and in Gen. 1856 (ob baet he loedan heht leoflic wif 
to his selfes sele). No doubt, at times, both in poetry and in prose, pre-position 
is used merely for the sake of variety. 
The following is a complete list of the passages in which pre-position of the uninflected 
infinitive occurs, arranged in alphabetic sequence of the governing verb, which is here cited 
in the infinitive form: — aginnan: Laws 310, II Cnut, c. 4; — bebeodan [bi -]: Ju. 232; — 
don: Mlf. L. S. 214.90; — gehieran [-e-, -i-, -y-]: Weerf. 186.1; Mlf. Horn. II. 350*, 460*; 
/Elf. Hept.: Pref. to Gen. 22.10; Judges: Epilogue, p. 265, 1. 6; /Elf. L. S. 286.62, 500.225, 
XXIII B. 215; Lcece. 153.9; Ps. 131.6; — gemed(e)mian: Laws 410, Judic. Dei, IV, c. 3, 
§2; ib. §4; — gemyntan: /Elf. L. S. 502.255; — geseon: /Elf. Horn. II. 186*; — geswican: 
L. 5.4; — gieman [-e-, -y-]: Bede 364.1, 412.26, 442.2; — hatan: Bede 238.27, 308.14; Greg. 
3.2; Oros. 44.8, 96.18, 114.33, 122.1, 164.32, 168.27, 228.8 a ; Chron. 91 m , 897 A c ; Laws 46, 
Alfred, Intr., c. 49, § 9 a ; Bened. 15.8, 86.15; Mart. 24.27, 46.25, 152.21, 218.23; Mlf. Horn. 
I. 442*, 470*, 478* \ 484* 2 , 508 b ; II. 122 b , 304 b4 , 384* 2 , 480 m ; Mlf. L. S. 114.420, 154.112, 
190.365, 414.6, 484.194, XXV. 130, 380; Minor Prose: Nic. 514.14; Beow. 674, 3095; Gen. 
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