ON THE MOODS.

[§ 483]. The infinitive mood is a noun. The current rule that when two verbs come together the latter is placed in the infinitive mood, means that one verb can govern another only by converting it into a noun—I begin to move = I begin the act of moving. Verbs, as verbs, can only come together in the way of apposition—I irritate, I beat, I talk at him, I call him names, &c.

[§ 484]. The construction, however, of English infinitives is two fold. (1.) Objective. (2.) Gerundial.

When one verb is followed by another without the preposition to, the construction must be considered to have grown out of the objective case, or from the form in -an.

Such is the case with the following words, and, probably, with others:

I may go,not I may to go.
I might go,—I might to go.
I can move,—I can to move.
I could move,—I could to move.
I will speak,—I will to speak.
I would speak, —I would to speak.
I shall wait,—I shall to wait.
I should wait,—I should to wait.
Let me go,—Let me to go.
He let me go,—He let me to go.
I do speak,—I do to speak.
I did speak,—I did to speak.
I dare go,—I dare to go.
I durst go,—I durst to go.

This, in the present English, is the rarer of the two constructions.

When a verb is followed by another, preceded by the preposition to, the construction must be considered to have grown out of the so-called gerund, i.e., the form in -nne, i.e., the dative case—I begin to move. This is the case with the great majority of English verbs.

[§ 485]. Imperatives have three peculiarities. (1.) They can only, in English, be used in the second person—go thou on, get you gone, &c.: (2.) They take pronouns after, instead of before them: (3.) They often omit the pronoun altogether.