194 ORIGIN OF CONSTRUCTIONS OF INFINITIVE IN ANGLO-SAXON. 
IV. PREDICATIVE INFINITIVE WITH AUXILIARY VERBS. 1 
A. THE ACTIVE INFINITIVE. 
The predicative use of the active uninflected infinitive with auxiliary verbs 
is of native origin in Anglo-Saxon, for it is found innumerable times in poetry 
and in prose of all periods and authors in the Anglo-Saxon epoch. It has 
seemed unnecessary to gather statistics on this construction. The predicative 
use of the inflected infinitive active with auxiliaries occurs only sporadically 
except with agan, concerning which see Chapter IV, pp. 80-81, 82-83. 
The construction with the uninflected infinitive active is likewise native 
in the other Germanic languages; with the inflected infinitive, only sporadic: 
concerning both see Chapter XVI, section iv. 
B. THE PASSIVE INFINITIVE. 
Contrary to my expectation, the passive infinitive as complement to the 
auxiliary verb is due to Latin influence. This use is almost unknown in 
the poetry, only 25 examples being found (1 with the infinitive made up of the 
past participle and beon; 7 with the infinitive made up of the past participle 
and wesan; and 17 with the infinitive made up of the past participle and 
weordan), and all of these in poems known to be based on Latin originals (Gen., 
Dan., Chr., Gu., Ju., EL, And., Ph., and Met.). In the prose translations, the 
passive infinitive regularly corresponds to a complementary passive infinitive 
in the Latin, though occasionally it has other correspondents. 
The other correspondents in Latin are: the passive subjunctive, 45; the passive indica¬ 
tive, 32; the accusative and passive infinitive (as subject, 1; as object, 19); the passive in¬ 
finitive as retained object, 1; the objective passive infinitive, 5; the appositive participle, 
passive, 8; the attributive participle, passive, 1; the complementary infinitive, active, 5; 
the objective active infinitive, 1; the accusative and active infinitive as object, 4; the active 
indicative, 4; the active subjunctive, 15; a noun, 3; a gerundive, 1; a gerund, 2; a loose 
paraphrase, 1; no Latin, 14. 
V. PREDICATIVE INFINITIVE WITH VERBS OF MOTION 
AND OF REST. 2 
Of the nature and the origin of the predicative infinitive after verbs of 
motion and of rest in Anglo-Saxon, I have seen no thoroughly satisfactory 
explanation. But several helpful suggestions have been offered, and in the 
following pages I attempt a synthesis of these suggestions. 
The more modern view seems to be that the infinitive in this construction 
at times denotes the manner of motion indicated by the chief verb, and at 
times expresses an action co-ordinate with that of the chief verb, which uses 
may be designated as modal and co-ordinate respectively. 
C. F. Koch’s 3 statement, in his Englische Grammatik (1865), II, p. 61, is 
brief and explicit. Speaking of the simple infinitive after verbs of motion, he 
says: “ Hier erscheint der Infinitiv in doppelter Bedeutung. Er nennt aa) 
die Weise der Bewegung oder eine sie begleitende Handlung: Fleon gewat (er 
1 See Chapter IV, p. 79. 2 See Chapter V, p. 89. 
3 Koch’s first ed. of Vol. II appeared in 1865; my quotation is from the second ed. (1878). 
