the army marshals to move out

[meliss]

"Word is passed as the army marshals to move out from the Jaxartes camp: For the first time Alexander permits the troops to take women and children captives under their own hand and sell them for their own profit."
(The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield)

Hi. Why is the infinitive used here: to move instead of move?

 

[emsr2d2]

It looks to me like there's a word missing. Perhaps it was meant to say "... as the army marshals prepared to move out ...". It could also be "Word is passed for the army marshals to move out ...".
The only online version of that quote I can find is from a website on which the book's title has been incorrectly spelled too ("Afgan" instead of "Afghan") so if that's where you got the quote, it's probably a typo.

 

[5jj]

The word 'marshals' is a verb in that sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

The word 'marshals' is a verb in that sentence.

Well, that never crossed my mind, probably because I wouldn't expect the verb to be followed by a to-infinitive.

 

[5jj]

I can't find any examples of it in use, but I found this definition:

v.intr.
1. To take up positions in a military formation.

The American Heritage Dictionary entry: marshal

The American Heritage Dictionary entry: marshal

www.ahdictionary.com

 

[meliss]

I can't find any examples of it in use, but I found this definition:

I found it once in the same book: "We were supposed to get paid on landing at Tripolis (it’d been a month, marshaling and crossing)".

 

[emsr2d2]

I found it once in the same book: "We were supposed to get paid on landing at Tripolis (it’d been a month, marshaling and crossing)".

I don't think 5jj meant he couldn't find an example of it in use at all. I believe he meant he couldn't find another real example of "marshal + to-infinitive", the way it was used in your original quote.

 

[probus]

What's troubling me is the intranitive use. Even after consulting onelook.com I've been unable to find another example of this verb "marshall" used intransitively. I'd have used something like "marshalls itself".