[2206.] In poetry, the infinitive is used as a substantive object with such verbs as dō, reddō, adimō, perdō: as, hīc verērī perdidit, Pl. B. 158, this youth has lost his sense of shame.
[(B.) The Infinitive as Subject.]
[2207.] The accusative with the infinitive, or the infinitive alone, present or perfect, may be used as the subject of a verb, in apposition with the subject, or as a predicate nominative: as,
([a.]) mendācem memorem esse oportēre, Quintil. 4, 2, 91, that a liar should have a good memory. (b.) sequitur illud, caedem senātum iūdicāsse contrā rem pūblicam esse factam, Mil. 12, next comes this point, that the senate adjudged the homicide an offence against the state. (c.) exitus fuit ōrātiōnis, sibī̆ nūllam cum hīs amīcitiam esse posse, 4, 8, 1, the end of the speech was that he could not have any friendship with these people.
[2208.] The infinitive is used as the subject (a.) with impersonal verbs, (b.) with est, putātur, habētur, &c., and an abstract substantive, a genitive, or a neuter adjective in the predicate.
[2209.] (a.) Some of the commonest impersonal verbs are appāret, decet, expedit, licet, lubet, oportet, praestat, pudet, rēfert. Also in classical Latin, attinet, condūcit, cōnstat, dēdecet, exsistit, fallit, interest, iuvat, liquet, obest, paenitet, patet, pertinet, placet, displicet, prōdest, which are used as live verbs by Lucretius and Sallust also. Similarly in Plautus and Terence fortasse.
[2210.] The infinitive is occasionally used as a subject with verbs other than the above ([2209]): as, nōn cadit invidēre in sapientem, TD. 3, 21, envy does not square with our ideas of a sage. carēre hoc sīgnificat, egēre eō quod habēre velīs, TD. 1, 88, careō means not having what you would like to have.
[2211.] (b.) Some of the commonest abstracts used thus with est are fāma, fās and nefās, fidēs, iūs, laus, opus, mōs, tempus. From Cicero on, opīniō and prōverbium. In Plautus, audācia, cōnfīdentia, miseria, negōtium, scelus, &c. For genitives, see [1237]. Neuter adjectives are such as aequum, inīquum, cōnsentāneum, crēdibile, incrēdibile, manifestum, necesse, pār, rēctum, &c., &c.
[2212.] The accusative is not expressed when it is indefinite, you, a man, a person, anybody, frequently also when it is implied in some other case in the sentence: as,