How to Split Infinitives
2021-08-13
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Your English teacher may have told you, "Do not split infinitives."
2But if you have been reading Everyday Grammar for the past few years, you already know that we no longer worry so much about this rule.
3As a student of grammar, you likely know that an infinitive usually begins with the word "to" and is followed by a verb in its base form.
4We can see examples of infinitives in many news stories about the Delta variant of COVID-19, such as "to spread" in this sentence:
5The Delta variant is able to spread faster than the original virus.
6A split infinitive happens when an adverb or other modifier is placed between "to" and the verb.
7For example, we could add the adverb "rapidly" to this sentence:
8Because of vaccine hesitancy, Dr. Antony Fauci expected COVID-19 rates to rapidly increase.
9In this case, the sentence would also be correct in this form:
10Because of vaccine hesitancy, Dr. Antony Fauci expected COVID-19 rates to increase rapidly.
11But there are other cases where you cannot change the word order. Staying with the health crisis, we read that:
12Coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant are predicted to more than double in some states.
13Here, the verb "to double" means to increase by 100 percent.
14If you are reading along with the story you will see a star before the next example sentence.
15That means it has incorrect grammar.
16For those of you listening, I will just say "star" before the incorrect sentence.
17So it would be incorrect to change this sentence to:
18*Coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant are predicted to double more than in some states.
19The same thing is true of the modifiers "up to," and "over."
20For example, we can make this sentence:
21The CDC says the Delta variant has the ability to up to triple infection rates in coming weeks.
22But as with "more than," the sentence would not be correct if you put "up to" after the infinitive or moved it before the "to" of the infinitive.
23* The CDC says the Delta variant has the ability to triple up to infection rates in coming weeks.
24The reason for these split infinitives has to do with the nature of the modifiers "more than," "up to" and "over."
25The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language calls these "prepositional modifiers."
26Like prepositions in general, they must appear immediately next to the expression they combine with.
27If you have trouble remembering what a split infinitive is, you can think of a famous one in popular culture.
28The television show Star Trek always begins by describing its mission:
29...to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!
30Here, the adverb "boldly" appeared within the infinitive "to go."
31As the Olympics ended this week, we heard about the medal count for each country.
32The United States brought home 39 gold medals, while the People's Republic of China earned 38.
33How would you use the verb "to match" to describe this situation?
34The answer is...
35The People's Republic of China was able to nearly match the U.S. for gold medals in the Olympics.
36Can you identify the split infinitive in that example? Would it work to change the order of the words? Write your answer in the comments.
37And that's Everyday Grammar!
38I'm Jill Robbins.
1Your English teacher may have told you, "Do not split infinitives." But if you have been reading Everyday Grammar for the past few years, you already know that we no longer worry so much about this rule. 2As a student of grammar, you likely know that an infinitive usually begins with the word "to" and is followed by a verb in its base form. We can see examples of infinitives in many news stories about the Delta variant of COVID-19, such as "to spread" in this sentence: 3The Delta variant is able to spread faster than the original virus. 4A split infinitive happens when an adverb or other modifier is placed between "to" and the verb. For example, we could add the adverb "rapidly" to this sentence: 5Because of vaccine hesitancy, Dr. Antony Fauci expected COVID-19 rates to rapidly increase. 6In this case, the sentence would also be correct in this form: 7Because of vaccine hesitancy, Dr. Antony Fauci expected COVID-19 rates to increase rapidly. 8But there are other cases where you cannot change the word order. Staying with the health crisis, we read that: 9Coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant are predicted to more than double in some states. 10Here, the verb "to double" means to increase by 100 percent. 11If you are reading along with the story you will see a star before the next example sentence. That means it has incorrect grammar. For those of you listening, I will just say "star" before the incorrect sentence. 12So it would be incorrect to change this sentence to: 13*Coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant are predicted to double more than in some states. 14The same thing is true of the modifiers "up to," and "over." For example, we can make this sentence: 15The CDC says the Delta variant has the ability to up to triple infection rates in coming weeks. 16But as with "more than," the sentence would not be correct if you put "up to" after the infinitive or moved it before the "to" of the infinitive. 17* The CDC says the Delta variant has the ability to triple up to infection rates in coming weeks. 18The reason for these split infinitives has to do with the nature of the modifiers "more than," "up to" and "over." The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language calls these "prepositional modifiers." Like prepositions in general, they must appear immediately next to the expression they combine with. 19Famous split infinitive 20If you have trouble remembering what a split infinitive is, you can think of a famous one in popular culture. The television show Star Trek always begins by describing its mission: 21...to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before! 22Here, the adverb "boldly" appeared within the infinitive "to go." 23As the Olympics ended this week, we heard about the medal count for each country. The United States brought home 39 gold medals, while the People's Republic of China earned 38. How would you use the verb "to match" to describe this situation? 24The answer is... 25The People's Republic of China was able to nearly match the U.S. for gold medals in the Olympics. 26Can you identify the split infinitive in that example? Would it work to change the order of the words? Write your answer in the comments. 27And that's Everyday Grammar! 28I'm Jill Robbins. 29Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 30_______________________________________________________________ 31Words in This Story 32variant - n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind 33original - adj. existing since the beginning 34modify - v. (grammar) to limit or describe the meaning of (a word or group of words) 35hesitant - adj. slow to act (vaccine hesitancy is delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite availability of vaccination services) 36match - v. to be as good as someone or something else 37Can you write a sentence with a split infinitive? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.