Infinitive.
After verbs of commanding the infinitive often seems to have a passive sense:—hīe hēton him sęndan māran fultum (they ordered that more forces should be sent to them). So also after verbs of hearing, &c.:—þæt mǣste wæl þe wē sęċġan hīerdon (the greatest slaughter we have heard told of). In such cases an indefinite pronoun has been omitted: 'ordered them to send ...' etc.
Gerund.
The gerund is used—
(1) to express purpose:—ūt ēode se sāwere his sǣd tō sāwenne (the sower went forth to sow his seed).
(2) it defines or determines an adjective (adverb or noun): hit is scandlic ymb swelc tō sprecenne (it is shameful to speak of such things).
PREPOSITIONS.
Some prepositions govern the accusative, such as þurh (through), ymbe (about); some the dative (and instrumental), such as æfter (after), ǣr (before), æt (at), be (by), binnan (within), būtan (without), for (for), fram (from), of (of), tō (to).
Some govern both accusative and dative, such as ofer (over), on (on, in), under (under). The general rule is that when motion is implied they take the accusative, when rest is implied, the dative. Thus on with the accusative signifies 'into,' with the dative 'in.' But this rule is not strictly followed, and we often find the accusative used with verbs of rest, as in hē his hūs ġe·timbrode ofer stān (he built his house on a rock), and conversely, the dative with verbs of motion, as in hīe fēollon on stǣnihte (they fell on stony ground).