94 THE INFINITIVE USED AS IN ENGLISH
1. In English certain verbs of wishing, commanding, forbidding, and the like are used with an object clause consisting of a substantive in the objective case and an infinitive, as, he commanded the men to flee. Such object clauses are called infinitive clauses, and the substantive is said to be the subject of the infinitive.
Similarly in Latin, some verbs of wishing, commanding, forbidding, and the like are used with an object clause consisting of an infinitive with a subject in the accusative case, as, Is virōs fugere iussit, he commanded the men to flee.
214. Rule. Subject of the Infinitive. The subject of the infinitive is in the accusative.
215. The Complementary Infinitive. In English a verb is often followed by an infinitive to complete its meaning, as, the Romans are able to conquer the Gauls. This is called the complementary infinitive, as the predicate is not complete without the added infinitive.
Similarly in Latin, verbs of incomplete predication are completed by the infinitive. Among such verbs are possum, I am able, I can; properō, mātūrō, I hasten; temptō, I attempt; as
Rōmānī Gallōs superāre possunt, the Romans are able to (or can) conquer the Gauls Bellum gerere mātūrant, they hasten to wage war |
a. A predicate adjective completing a complementary infinitive agrees in gender, number, and case with the subject of the main verb.
Malī puerī esse bonī nōn possunt, bad boys are not able to (or cannot) be good.
Observe that bonī agrees with puerī.
216. The Infinitive used as a Noun. In English the infinitive is often used as a pure noun, as the subject of a sentence, or as a predicate nominative. For example, To conquer (= conquering) is pleasing; To see (= seeing) is to believe (= believing). The same use of the infinitive is found in Latin, especially with est, as
- Superāre est grātum, to conquer is pleasing
- Vidēre est crēdere, to see is to believe
