104 THE PREDICATIVE INFINITIVE WITH “bEON” (“WESAN”)* 
understandan, understand: 
MIJ. L. S. 354.258: Us is to understandenne bas endebyrdnyssa (or sub¬ 
jective?). 
warni(g)an, warn: 
Wcerf. 340.29: forban him is to warnianne bone rihtan dom bam, be ser ne 
beob his synna forlaetene = 413 A 2 : Qua ex re aperte datur intelligi quia hi 
quibus peccata dimissa non fuerint, ad evitandum judicium sacris locis post 
mortem non valeant adjuvari. 
Mlj. Gr. 3.10: is nu for bi godes beowum and mynstermannum georne to 
warnigenne, baet seo halige lar on urum dagum ne acolige obbe ateorige. 
weorbian, honor: 
JElf. Horn. I. 354*: Ac us is to wur&igenne mid micelre gecnyrdnysse Cristes 
gebyrdtide. 
wundrian, admire: 
Pr. Gu. III. 63: And nu, hwset, ys swibe to wundrianne ba diglan mihte ures 
drihtnes and his mildheortnysse domas = O quam admiranda est divinae mis- 
erationis indulgentia, et quantum glorificanda paternae dilectionis providentia! 
Differentiation of the Two Infinitives. 
Regularly the infinitive of necessity is inflected, whether active or passive 
in sense. Sporadically, however, we find the infinitive uninflected, as in the 
examples given on pp. 98 and 102. In each of these examples the uninflected 
infinitive is the second in a series of two infinitives, the first in each series being 
inflected; and one may hold that the influence of the to of the first is carried 
over to the second infinitive, or, to state it differently, that to is omitted with 
the second infinitive because of its presence with the first infinitive; or, as I 
prefer to think, that the second infinitive is uninflected primarily because of its 
remoteness from the principal verb. Or, finally, the lack of inflection, occurring 
so seldom, may be due to mere chance. 
B. THE INFINITIVE DENOTES FUTURITY. 
At times the inflected infinitive with heon (wesan ) denotes Futurity, is 
active in sense, and corresponds to the Latin periphrastic conjugation made up 
of the verb sum and the future participle, of which, indeed, it is usually a 
translation. 
I give all of the clearer examples observed by me: — 
aliesan, redeem: 
L. 24.21: We hopedon baet he to alysenne wcere Israhel = Nos autem spera- 
bamus quia ipse esset redempturus Israel, 
cuman, come: 
Gosp.: Mat. 11.3: Eart bu be to cumenne eart = Tu es qui venturus est 
Similarly: Mat. 11.14, 16.27; — L. 7.19, 20; 10.1; —1.15. 
A. S. Horn. & L. S. II: 11.106: Hwi nis se wvrbe bset he onfo binra mete- 
%/ 
lafe, be mid be is to cumenne to engla gebeorscipe? 
cweban, say, speak: 
A. S. Horn. & L. S. II: 12.86: And ure drihten is to cwetSenne bonne he to 
bam dome cymb: Hospes eram et suscepistis me. 
don, do: 
