CHAPTER XVII. 
RESULTS. 
I briefly sum up what seem to me to be the results of this investigation, 
first, concerning the active infinitive and, secondly, concerning the passive 
infinitive: — 
I. THE ACTIVE INFINITIVE. 
1. In respect of the Form, the Anglo-Saxon has two active infinitives: 
(1) the uninflected, ending in - an , with phonetic variants, which in origin is the 
petrified nominative-accusative case of a neuter noun of action; and (2) the 
inflected, made up of the preposition to plus the dative case of the uninflected 
infinitive, ending in -enne (-anne ), with phonetic variants. Occasionally, how-, 
ever, we have a compromise between these two, as in to singan or in singenne 
without to, both of which forms are counted as inflected in this investigation. 
And very rarely, in Late West Saxon, we have the infinitive in -enne preceded 
by for to, as in for to hauene . 
2. As to the Voice of these two infinitives, it seems to me that the unin¬ 
flected infinitive is habitually active in sense as in form in each of its various 
uses, after verbs of commanding, of causing, and of sense perception as well as 
in other uses. The inflected infinitive, also, is usually active in sense except 
when used predicatively with beon (wesan ) to denote necessity or obligation, in 
which use it is normally passive, though occasionally active. Probably, too, 
the adjectivized inflected infinitive with nouns, a construction that may be con¬ 
sidered an abridgment of the infinitive of necessity with beon (wesan), is also 
passive in sense. Possibly, but not probably, the inflected infinitive is occasion¬ 
ally passive in sense when used to denote purpose, and when used with adjec¬ 
tives. But the Anglo-Saxons at the outset had little feeling for a true passive 
infinitive, and very slowly acquired it through the Latin: see the section below 
on the passive infinitive. 
3. In keeping with its origin, the infinitive is of dual Nature, partaking, at 
one and the same time, of the nature both of the noun and of the verb. But, 
despite this fact, one of these two tendencies, the substantival and the verbal, 
usually predominates; and from this standpoint we may roughly divide all 
infinitives into two big classes, (1) substantival and (2) verbal (or predicative). 
More generally useful, however, is the classification according to the dominant 
Function of the infinitive; according to which an infinitive is substantival, 
predicative, adverbial, or adjectival. 
4. The Uses of the Infinitive in Anglo-Saxon are fourfold: — 
(1) Substantival, subdivided into: 
(a) Subjective, oftenest with the infinitive inflected, but often uninflected. 
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