How to parse. ...

232

THIE INFINITI VE.

[Par. 402.

The Subject of the Infinitive, in " to be sure"
and in " to wit," appears to be the person addressed,
" that you may be sure," " that you may wit."
402 The Infinitive with " for to."
In the Bible, the old Infinitive with "for to " is
still found:(1) " What went ye outfor to see?"
In Old English this Infinitive was used as Complement to a Noun, in the Object clause, just like
the Infinitive with " to," e.g. —
(2) " A many of rude villains made him for to
bleed."
(3) " If he will not suffer my people for to pass."
We still, unconsciously, use this idiom, e.g.(4) " It is rare for a man to starve in this country."
Here the meaning is, not that " starvation is rare
for a man " (for of course a man can only starve
once), but that "a man's being starved, or that a
man should be starved, is rare." But, as this idiom
is completely forgotten, we seldom use it, except
where '"for" might take for its Object the Noun
preceding the following Infinitive, as in(5) " The night is too darkfor us to travel."
Here "us" may be called the Object of " for."
But, in reality, the sentence owes its origin to the