ABSTRACT
Most grammarians recognize the infinitive as object in cases like "I want to sing" and "I promise to sing"; cf. "I want this" and "I promise nothing". The only grammarian, as far as I know, who has ever objected to this view is Harold E. Palmer (Bulletin, Sept. 1938, Tokyo), but his four tests to ascertain what is an object are not decisive (cf. also ib. June 1939).
