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I'm currently reading Ad Alpes and came across the following sentence:

"Nonne sunt qui putent earum volatu res futuras portendi?"

Now, as I understand it the meaning of this sentence is: "are there not those who think/believe/consider that by their [birds'] flight the future is foretold?"

So, my beginner's question is: why does the verb take the gerund form and not the infinitive? Am I mistranslating the way in which foretold is being used?

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    portendi is infinitive. So either the question got reversed or you have your answer.
    – d_e
    Aug 19, 2022 at 11:45
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    @d_e Aha! So it is - passive infinitive. I just saw the '-di' and assumed a genitive gerund. Thanks so much.
    – William
    Aug 19, 2022 at 12:04
  • yeah. That's confusing indeed. the gerundive would be portendendi
    – d_e
    Aug 19, 2022 at 12:13
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    @d_e I recommend you turn your comment into an answer. Nice work.
    – Figulus
    Aug 20, 2022 at 16:50

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