THE ACTIVE INFINITIVE. 
29 
1060, 1856; Dan. 229; El 129, 862; Ju. 161, 254, 303, 575, 579; Gu. 1344, 1348; And. 587; 
Ps. 50.18 a ; H. L. 12; S. & S. 275 ;—hieran \-e-, -i-, -y-\: Bede 348.26, 426.3, 430.12; Oros. 
156.9, 286.7; Chron. 64 b , 851 A; Wcerf. 2.16; Minor Prose: Cato, Zusatze, p. 53, 1. 21; Beow. 
273, 582, 875; Chr. 73; And. 1176; Hoi. 83; — loetan: Oros. 258.18, 19; 296.29; Bened. 
110.19; Wulf. 45.25; — myntan: Bl. Horn. 223.11, 16; A. S. Horn. & L. S. II. 13.167, 251; 
— onginnan: Bede 24.23, 34.19, 56.1, 56.16, 148.30, 154.34, 174.12, 182.8, 256.24, 286.22, 
288.10, 362.29, 454.15, 462.17, 466.22; Boeth. 25.9, 91.2, 104.31; Oros. 60.30, 62.2, 94.34, 
106.6, 110.6, 116.28, 218.14, 262.16; Laws 306, I Cnut, c. 26, § 1; Wcerf. 14.14, 32.18, 290.7; 
Bl. Horn. 105.6, 221.8, 18; Pr. Gu. IV. 27, 34; XX. 33; Mlf. Horn. II. 138 b , 472 b , 502 b 2 , 
518* 2 ; Mlf. L. S. 32.118, XXIII B. 275, 532, 723, XXXI. 1365; A. S. Horn, and L. S. II. 
18.152; Wulf. 191.9, 250.17, 255.9, 262.11; Minor Prose: Apol. 27.12 b , 28; Beow. 244; 
Gen. 275, 298, 995, 1355, 1681, 2811, 2887; Dan. 49, 170, 190, 539, 750; Ju. 298; El 157, 
303, 306, 311, 570, 697, 849, 1067, 1163; Gu. 533; And. 1419; Met. 25.69, 26.80; Ps. 68.27, 
76.10, 77.2, 101.6, 106.36, 118.161, 138.16; Rid. 29.11, 32.9, 55.10; Jud. 42, 81; Ph. 188; 
Minor Poems: Cal. 73; Doomsday 97; D. R. 73, 116; Fallen Angels 78; Har. 279; Pharao 
3 ; Prayers III. 16; — secan: Bl. Horn. 167.2; Wald. A. 18,20; — tilian: Bl. Horn. 165.31 a,b ; 
Met. 10.22, 11.79; — Sencan: Bede 36.8; Boeth. 93.31, 103.20; Greg. 343.21; Oros. 44.32, 
54.21, 78.30, 132.12, 150.12, 200.17, 230.2, 242.6, 258.15, 258.29; Warf. 239.6; Bened. 23.3; 
Minor Prose: Bened. Of.: 62.24; Beow. 355, 448, 541, 739, 800, 964, 1535; Gen. 1274, 2891; 
Ex. 51; Ju. 637; El. 296; Gu. 260, 274, 277, 298; And. 150, 693; Ps. 63.3, 88.22, 88.30, 
93.20 a , 107.8, 118.91, 118.107, 118.109, 131.15, 149.7 a , 149.8 a ; Charms V, C, 16, 17; D. R. 
121; Fallen Angels 183, 208, 364; Gnomic Sayings (Exeter MS.) 116; L. P. II. 25; Maldon 
258, 316, 319. ' 
Pre-position of the inflected infinitive is found only about half a dozen times, 
all in prose: Bede 258.8: Ond he rehte endebyrdnesse lifes seteawde, J rihte 
Eastran to weorSianne Icerde = 204.20: rectum uiuendi ordinem, ritum celebrandi 
paschae canonicum . . . disseminahat; Laws 102, Ine B, c. 30: Gif man 
cyrliscne mannan flymanfeormienne teo, be his agenon were geladige [he] hine; 
Mlf. L. S. 530.704: on Sam fyrmestan dagan be decius se casere to rixianne 
begann; Mlf. Hept.: Ex. 16.23: gearwiab to morgen, baet ge to gearwienne 
hcebbon = quae coquenda sunt, coquite; Mat. 20.22: Mage gyt drincan bone 
calic be ic to drincenne hcebbe f = Potestis bibere calicem quern ego bibiturus sum f 
Lcece. 58.27: aefter bam spiwab, sona him to gifanne biddad. In some of the 
foregoing examples (Bede 258.8 and Ex. 16.23) the pre-position of the infini¬ 
tive is probably due to the fact that its Latin equivalent precedes the finite 
verb; in some (Mlf. L. S. 530.704), to the fact that the infinitive occurs in a 
dependent clause; but, as a rule, neither of these two influences overthrows 
the normal postposition, as is evident from sentences like the following, which 
are not infrequent: Bede 372.12: bu wast baet ic . . . teolode to lifigenne to 
. . . bebode = 275.1: ad . . . imperium . . . uiuere studui; Mlf. L. S. XXV. 
36: mete, be moyses forbead godes folce to Sicgenne. 
I have given the full lists of the pre-positive infinitives because it has been 
claimed by some that pre-position strongly tends to the use of the uninflected 
infinitive, and postposition to the use of the inflected form, but, as it seems to 
me, without much ground for the claim: see the section on the differentiation 
of the two objective infinitives, especially of the infinitive after Sencan. 
The objective infinitive that is active in form, whether uninflected or 
inflected, seems to me prevailingly, if not exclusively, active in sense. Some, * 1 
however, hold that the uninflected infinitive, though active in form, is passi ve 
1 Among them are Grimm, l. c., IV, pp. 61-63; Wilhelm, l. c., p. 36; Jolly, I. c., pp. 163-164; Bernhardt, 1 
l. c., pp. 383-384; Steig, l. c., p. 311; Wiilfing,* l. c., II, pp. 47, 189, 191; Zeitlin, 1 1. c., pp. 44-45; K. Kohler, l.c., 
p. 7; Kellner, 1 l. c., pp. 85, 97; Wilmanns, l. c., pp. 163-167. On the whole, these scholars contend that the 
infinitive after the verbs named is not necessarily but preferably to be considered passive in sense. 
