Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A split infinitive is a grammatical construction specific to English in which an adverb or adverbial phrase separates the "to" and "infinitive" constituents of what was traditionally called the "full infinitive", but is more commonly known in modern linguistics as the to-infinitive (e.g., to go).
Infinitive phrases often have an implied grammatical subject making them effectively clauses rather than phrases. Such infinitive clauses or infinitival clauses, are one of several kinds of non-finite clause. They can play various grammatical roles like a constituent of a larger clause or sentence; for example it may form a noun phrase or ...
The split infinitive "to boldly go" has also been the subject of jokes regarding its grammatical correctness. British humorist and science-fiction author Douglas Adams describes, in his series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , the long-lost heroic age of the Galactic Empire, when bold adventurers dared "to boldly split infinitives that no ...
Split infinitives are still frowned upon in common English usage. Almost all of the examples cited in this article would actually sound better, in common usage terms, without the infinitives being split. As the article shows, split infinitives originated in Britain, and the first known objection to them was in America.
1 why it is generally not acceptable to 'split' an infinitive with 'not' 2 falsity. 3 Problems. 4 comments. 4 Prescription vs. description. 5 biased "non split" POV ...
Example: "un-freaking-believable" (an emphatic way to say "unbelievable"). In a broader sense, tmesis is a recognizable phrase (such as a phrasal verb ) or word that is divided into two parts, with one or more words interpolated between the parts, thus creating a separate phrase.
Some English grammar rules were adopted from Latin, for example John Dryden is thought to have created the rule no sentences can end in a preposition because Latin cannot end sentences in prepositions. The rule of no split infinitives was adopted from Latin because Latin has no split infinitives. [41] [42] [43]
1 Teddy bear example. 10 comments. 2 Counter example please. 1 comment. 3 Prescriptive Grammar is out of date. 2 comments. 4 Classical Languages Argument. 5 comments.