Split infinitives
Some people say that it is always wrong to split infinitives with an adverb – that is, to use phrases such as ‘to strictly forbid’ or ‘to fully understand’.
Others are more tolerant, and most experts would say that split infinitives are quite acceptable.
Three general rules might help:
- Think about style. ‘To fully understand’ sounds good, for example; ‘to carefully walk’ sounds bad.
- Think about meaning. ‘Completely failing to understand’ means something different from ‘Failing to completely understand’.
- Think about audience. People who are convinced that splitting infinitives is always wrong will make a judgement about the grammatical form which might distract them from the content.
- If you’re studying for an exam, stick to what is expected in the syllabus.
