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Kevin X Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

"in order not to ..." or "in order to not ..."

Hi,

As far as I know, we say:

Exercise regularly in order not to get sick.

But more often than not I see the sentence written this way:

Exercise regularly in order to not get sick.

Is the later incorrect or just a normal variant?

Thanks!

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Top answer

Hi, yes, you are right, it's said both ways. I'm afraid the first one is the only one that's correct according to prescriptive grammar. If you are not interested in prescriptive grammar (and you should not), then yeah, both are in use.

— Kooyeen

  • Hi, yes, you are right, it's said both ways.
  • I'm afraid the first one is the only one that's correct according to prescriptive grammar.
  • If you are not interested in prescriptive grammar (and you should not), then yeah, both are in use.
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5 Answers
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Hi,
yes, you are right, it's said both ways. I'm afraid the first one is the only one that's correct according to prescriptive grammar. If you are not interested in prescriptive grammar (and you should not), then yeah, both are in use.
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KooyeenHi,
yes, you are right, it's said both ways. I'm afraid the first one is the only one that's correct according to prescriptive grammar. If you are not interested in prescriptive grammar (and you should not), then yeah, both are in use.
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If you're speaking to me, you may as well scratch your fingernails on a chalkboard as say

Exercise regularly in order to not get sick.

I find that the effect is the same.

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CalifJimIf you're speaking to me, you may as well scratch your fingernails on a chalkboard as say

Exercise regularly in order to not get sick.

I find that the effect is the same.

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