king_ or _moving_,
independently of any specification of the _walker_ or _mover_.

[beta]. That, when actions are spoken of thus indefinitely, the idea of
either person or number has no place in the conception; from which it
follows that the so-called infinitive mood must be at once impersonal, and
without the distinction of singular, dual, and plural.

[gamma]. That, nevertheless, the ideas of time and relation in space _have_
place in the conception. We can think of a person being _in the act of
striking a blow_, of his _having been in the act of striking a blow_, or of
his _being about to be in the act of striking a blow_. We can also think of
a person being _in the act of doing a good action_, or of his being _from
the act of doing a good action_.

s. 279. This has been written to show that verbs of languages in general
are as naturally declinable as nouns. What follows will show that the verbs
of the Gothic languages in particular were actually declined, and that
fragments of this declension remain in the present English.

The inflection of the verb in its impersonal (or infinitive state)
consisted, in its fullest form, of three cases, a nominative (or
accusative), a dative, and a genitive. The genitive is put last, because
its occurrence in the Gothic languages is the least constant.

In Anglo-Saxon the nominative (or accusative) ended in -an, with a single
n.

Lufian = _to love_ = _amare_.
Baernan = _to burn_ = _urere_.
Syllan = _to give_ = _dare_.

In Anglo-Saxon the dative of the infinitive verb ended in -nne, and was
preceded by the preposition _to_.

To lufienne = _ad amandum_.
To baernenne = _ad urendum_.
To syllanne = _ad dandum_.

The genitive, ending in -es, occurs only in Old High German and Modern High
German, _pl[^a]sannes_, _weinnenes_.

s. 280. With these preliminaries we can take a clear view of the English
infinitives. They exist under two forms, and are referable to a double
origin.

1. The _independent_ form.--This is used after the words _can_, _may_,
_shall_, _will_, and some others, as, _I can speak_, _I may go_, _I shall
come_, _I will move_. Here there is no preposition, and the origin of the
infinitive is from the form in -an.

2. The _prepositional_ form.--This is used after the majority of English
verbs, as, _I wish to speak_, _I mean to go_, _I intend to come_, _I
determine to move_. Here we have the preposition _to_ and the origin of the
infinitive is from t