split infinitives
"To boldly go"
A split infinitive places a word, usually an adverb, between "to" and the verb: to boldly go, to really understand.
Traditional grammar guides once condemned the construction, but it's natural in English and often sounds better than the alternative.
To better serve our customers flows more smoothly than better to serve or to serve better.
- adverbVerb or adjective modifier
- modifyChange partially
- interveneCome between opposing sides
- writingRecorded language on surface
- prescriptivismEnforcing linguistic correctness
Latin influence · grammar · grammar rules · phrases · rule · dangling modifier · emphasis · Star Trek · linguistics · interruptions · clarity · construction · auxiliary verbs · particles · sentence structure · Fowler · syntax · descriptivism
- advanced grammarpassive voice, participles, gerunds, infinitives, dependent clauses
- writingwriting, drafting, authors, author, books
- grammardeclension, pronouns, adjectives, conjugation, nouns
split, splits, splitting, splitter, infinitive, infinite, infinity, infinitely, finite