This article offers a perspective from Old English on the diachronic development of aspectual verbs. Within the theoretical framework of Role and Reference Grammar, this study shows a situation of competition between finite and non-finite complementation that predicts a change on the diachronic axis. The fact that not only the first argument but also verbal operators are shared by the matrix and the linked predication motivates the change from the looser syntax of finite complementation to the tighter syntax of non-finite complementation.This article offers a perspective from Old English on the diachronic development of aspectual verbs. Within the theoretical framework of Role and Reference Grammar, this study shows a situation of competition between finite and non-finite complementation that predicts a change on the diachronic axis. The fact that not only the first argument but also verbal operators are shared by the matrix and the linked predication motivates the change from the looser syntax of finite complementation to the tighter syntax of non-finite complementation.