§455. Infinitive Mood

With impersonal verbs and expressions that take the Infinitive as an apparent subject, the personal subject of the action may be expressed—

• By a Dative, depending on the verb or verbal phrase:—

  • rogant ut id sibifacere liceat (B. G. 1.7), they ask that it be allowed them to do this.
  • nōn lubet enimmihidēplōrāre vītam (Cat. M. 84), for it does not please me to lament my life.
  • vīsum est mihidē senectūte aliquid cōnscrībere (id. 1), it seemed good to me to write something about old age.
  • quid est tam secundum nātūram quamsenibusēmorī; (id. 71), what is so much in accordance with nature as for old men to die?
  • exstinguīhominī suō tempore optābile est (id. 85), for a man to die at the appointed time is desirable.

• By an Accusative expressed as the subject of the infinitive or the object of the impersonal:—

  • sī licet vīvereeum quem Sex. Naevius nōn volt (Quinct. 94), if it is allowed a man to live against the will of Sextus Nœvius.
  • nōnne oportuit praescīsse mēante (Ter. And. 239), ought I not to have known beforehand?
  • ōrātōremīrāscī minimē decet (Tusc. 4.54), it is particularly unbecoming for an orator to lose his temper.
  • pudēretmē dīcere (N. D. 1.109), I should be ashamed to say.
  • cōnsilia ineunt quōrum eōs in vestīgiō paenitēre necesse est (B. G. 4.5), they form plans for which they must at once be sorry.

a. A predicate noun or adjective is commonly in the Accusative; but with licet regularly, and with other verbs occasionally, the Dative is used:—

• expedit bonās esse vōbīs (Ter. Haut. 388), it is for your advantage to be good.
• licuit esse ōtiōsō Themistoclī; (Tusc. 1.33), Themistocles might have been inactive (it was allowed to Themistocles to be inactive).
• mihi neglegentī esse nōn licet (Att. 1.17.6), I must not be negligent. [But also neglegentem.]
• cūr hīs esse līberōs nōn licet (Flacc. 71), why is it not allowed these men to be free?
• nōn est omnibus stantibus necesse dīcere (Marc. 33), it is not necessary for all to speak standing.

Complementary Infinitive