Still to refrain from splitting infinitives?

[MrsSeanBean]

Maybe this is a topics for pedants' corner. I don't know if this is generally considered acceptable now.

Am I an anachronism?

It is sunday morning, we're all hungover.

I believe, unless you are speaking Latin, there is no need to avoid. To merrily split is quite acceptable

Agree with bogeek.

This was an artificial rule foisted upon English in (I think) the 18th century to make it more like Latin and therefore "perfect".

A million miles from rules which grew out of existing English usage and which often ARE worth keeping (eg not saying "between you and I", not saying "is it for yourself?", distinguishing between "uninterested" and "disinterested" ...)

If we ARE to be pedants, at least let's be useful ones!

It's one rule I don't understand. It doesn't matter how much I read up on it I can't get it into my brain. I'm glad it's not one I should be worrying about

Oh joy oh joy oh joy - opened this with some trepidation. Yes, it's a Latin rule imposed on English. Preference is all to do with personal style and nothing to do with grammar. I split 'em all the time - a lot of the "non-split" versions look very clumsy and affected to me.

"To boldly go where no man has gone before" has a great rhythm to it. If it were done non-split, it wouldn't sound right. They re-used it for "The Next Generation" knowing it was "wrong" (but with "no man" changed to "no one"...)

Yep, I like to boldly split infinitives also!

Just adds to the richness of the English language!

Voices of Reason! Can't believe how happy I am to read this thread!

It's a dumb rule.

(But then again, I see no problem with the 'bad' double negative "I don't have no sausages", at least in relaxed usage, and hate the 'good' double negative "Not un-busy".)

NQC - huzzah! The double-negative thing is also a relatively recent invention. Chaucer used multiple negatives to good effect.

I like 'not un-busy'!! It has a very precise meaning indeed, and is very useful!

"not un-busy" = litotes.

George Orwell can poke it!

afaik, the precise meaning is 'I am busy - also, I am a pretentious wanker.'

(Yes, some of the literary examples are tolerable. Still, I am Not A Fan.)

I still don't like split infinitives, unless it would make the sentence clumsy to un-split them.

I hate sentences ending with a preposition, though.

Hmmm, I'm not a fan of sentences that end with a preposition. However, some of the circumlocutions required to avoid it are dreadful, and up with them I will not put.

I think the last two posters have hit the nail on the head.

If you don't like these constructions, you don't have to use them.

BUT they are not proper rules so, if you do find they help, you needn't feel bad about it.

Simple, no?

I try to avoid splitting infinitives or ending a sentence with a preposition but am happy to do so if the sentence would otherwise be clumsy.

But I hate double negatives.

i wish i was smart enough to know wtf you were all on about

So (to clarify for the dimwits - myself included) a split infinitive is where the adjective is before the verb instead of after?

interesting. think in future I shall just go for what sounds best
eg "still to refrain" sounds better than "to still refrain"

but also agree with UQDs boldly go example.

simplysally - an infinitive is the basic form of a verb - 'to do' to eat' etc. In other languages it is often one word - for example French "etre" (to be). Splitting is when you put adverb such as slowly between the "to" and the other part of the verb eg. "eat".

So 'to eat slowly' is not split but 'to slowly eat' is split. HTH.

Thanks all. Until this thread, I wasn't entirely sure what an infinitive was - let alone how to split one.

Double negatives wind me up, I used to hate it at school when someone said "I didn't do nothing!" My form teacher was our English teacher and she never picked it up but I would say something

Tinsel, perhaps your English teacher was very well versed in Chaucer...