2219. In itself, the present infinitive denotes action merely as going
on, without any reference to time. With some verbs, however, which look
to the future, the present relates to action in the immediate future.
With verbs of perceiving, knowing, thinking, and saying, it denotes
action as going on at the time of the verb: as,
(_a._) #facinus est vincīre cīvem Rōmānum#, _V._ 5, 170, _it is a crime
to put a Roman in irons_. (_b._) #audīre cupiō#, _Caec._ 33, _I am eager
to hear_. #Antium mē recipere cōgitō a. d. V Nōn. Māi.#, _Att._ 2, 9, 4,
_I am meditating going back to Antium the third of May_. (_c._) #errāre
eōs dīcunt#, 5, 41, 5, _they say those people are mistaken_. #tempus
dīxī esse#, T. _Hec._ 687, _I said it was time_. #dīcēs tibī̆ Siculōs
esse amīcōs?# _V._ 2, 155, _will you say the Sicilians are friends of
yours?_
2220. The present infinitive is sometimes used with #meminī#,
#recordor#, #memoriā teneō#, and with some analogous expressions, such
as #accēpimus#, #fertur#, &c., to represent merely the occurrence of
action really completed, without indicating its completion: as,
#meminī ad mē tē scrībere#, _D._ 38, _I remember your writing to me_.
#meministis fierī senātūs cōnsultum#, _Mur._ 51, _you remember a decree
of the senate being passed_. #sed ego īdem recordor longē omnibus
anteferre Dēmosthenem#, _O._ 23, _and yet I remember putting Demosthenes
far above everybody else_. #hanc accēpimus agrōs et nemora peragrāre#,
_HR._ 24, _we have heard of this goddess’s scouring fields and groves_.
#Q. Maximum accēpimus facile cēlāre, tacēre#, _Off._ 1, 108, _we have
heard of Fabius’s ready cleverness in keeping dark and holding his
tongue_. But the perfect is used when the action is to be distinctly
marked as completed: as, #meministis mē ita distribuisse causam#, _RA._
122, _you remember that I arranged the case thus_. Sometimes present and
perfect are united: as, #Helenē capere arma fertur, nec frātrēs
ērubuisse deōs#, Prop. 3, 14, 19 (4, 13, 19), _Helen is said to fly to
arms, and not to have blushed in presence of her brother gods_. Here
#capere# relates to the same completed action as the more exact
#ērubuisse#.
2221. With verbs of saying, used in the narrower sense of promising, the
present infinitive sometimes stands for the future (2236): as,
#crās māne argentum mihī̆ mīles dare sē dīxit#, T. _Ph._ 531, _the
soldier spoke of paying me the money early in the morning_. #mē a͡ibat
accersere#, Pl. _Ps._ 1118, _he said he’d fetch me_ (2186). #quae
imperārentur facere dīxērunt#, 2, 32, 3, _they agreed to do what was
commanded_.
2222. The present infinitive dependent on a past tense of #dēbeō#,
#oportet#, #possum#, often requires the English perfect infinitive in
translation: as, #quid enim facere poterāmus?# _Pis._ 13, _for what else
could we have done?_ See, however, 1495. For the infinitive perfect, see
2230.