INTRODUCTION. 
3 
infinitive, but, also, two other uses, the adverbial and the adjectival. Accord¬ 
ing to its dominant function, then, an infinitive is substantival, predicative, 
adverbial, or adjectival. 
In the substantival function, as the name indicates, the infinitive is used as 
a noun. With a verb the infinitive occurs often as (a) its subject, or (6) its 
object, or, occasionally, as (c) its predicate nominative, in each of which uses 
we have both the uninfiected and the inflected infinitive. With a noun or 
pronoun, the infinitive occurs ( d ) as an appositive, normally in the uninfiected 
form, (e) As the object of a preposition I have found no clear example of the 
infinitive; but concerning a possible example see Chapter III below. Typical 
illustrations of these substantival uses are the following: -— 
(а) As subject: — uninfiected: Greg. 279.6: JEt serestum lyst bone monn 
unnytt sprecan be obrum monnum = 210.15: ut prius loqui aliena libeat; — 
inflected: Greg. 237.11: sua dered eac hwilum sumum monnum baet sob to 
gehierenne =178.26: ita nonnunquam quibusdam audita vera nocuerunt. 
(б) As object: — uninfiected: Greg. 55.12: Donne baet mod &ence<5 gegripan 
him to upahefenesse ba eabmodnesse = 32.2: Cumque mens humilitatis culmen 
arripere ad elationem cogitat; Beow . 101: ob baet an ongan fyrene fremman; — 
inflected: Greg. 53.3: Be baem be wilna§ biscephad to underfonne - 28.23: De 
his, qui prceesse concupiscunt. 
(c) As predicate nominative: — uninfiected and inflected: Mlf. L. S. xxv. 
310 a - b . Nis nan earfobnyss baem . . . gode on feawum mannum obbe on 
micclum werode to helpenne on gefeohte and healdan (sic /) ba be he wile. 
(d) As an appositive: — uninfiected: Bede 78.22 a> b ’ c ’ d ’ e : forbon kyngran f 
Syrstan, hatian, calan, wcerigian, — al &cet is of untrymnesse baes gecyndes 
= 55.32 a * b> c , 33 a ’ b : Esurire namque, sitire, aestuare, algere , lassescere ex 
infirmitate naturae est: — inflected: Solil. 16.16, 17: forbam me ys eg&er 
bara alyfad, ge baet good to lufianne ge baet yfel to hatianne = Licet enim mihi 
in quovis amare rationem, cum ilium jure oderim qui male utitur eo quod amo. 
(e) As the object of a preposition: see below, Chapter III. 
In the predicative (or verbal) function, the infinitive approaches nearest to 
a finite verb, and is used to complete the assertion of a verb of incomplete as¬ 
sertion, specifically: (a) the auxiliary verbs, after which we have habitually 
the uninfiected infinitive; ( b ) verbs of motion (and occasionally of rest) other 
than in the ( w)uton locution, likewise followed by the uninfiected infinitive; 
(c) ( w)uton , also with the simple infinitive; and (d) the verb beon ( wesan ), 
which is habitually followed by the inflected infinitive of obligation or of 
necessity. Under the predicative function, also, I should put the use of the 
infinitive (e) as a quasi-predicate to an accusative subject, or the so-called 
accusative-with-infinitive construction, in which we have habitually the 
simple infinitive. Some hold that we have (/) a predicative infinitive with a 
dative subject, but to me the infinitive in such locutions seems more substan¬ 
tival than predicative, — a topic that is discussed somewhat at length in 
Chapter IX. The following are typical examples of these predicative uses: — 
(a) With auxiliary verbs: — uninfiected: Beow. 51: Men ne cunnon secgan 
. . . hwa etc.; Beow. 191: ne mihte snotor haeleb wean onwendan; etc.; — 
inflected: Rid. 37.13: Du wast gif bu const to gesecganne, baet we sob witan hu 
baere wihte wise gonge. 
