split infinitive

AnonymousThere is a debate on the propriety of split infinitives.

I don't think that is true anymore. The no-splitters have almost all died.

Anonymous a split infinity.

Is that the same as alternative universes?

Anonymous My job is to not split infinitives.

This should be "My job is to keep from splitting infinitives". Strange job.

Anonymousambiguity

There are hundreds of instances of ambiguity in English and in other languages. In those cases we rewrite the sentence so that it says unambiguously what we mean.

CJ

I am uncomfortable with splitting infinitives. As an example as to why I'll post two statements that may or may not convey the same message. Is splitting the infinitive creating ambiguity here.
1. His job is to not split infinitives.
2. His job is not to split infinitives.
In the second statement replace is not with isn't.

There's nothing inherently wrong with splitting infinitives. It was a rule made up by a cranky 18th century grammarian on the grounds that you don't split infinitives in Latin, so you shouldn't in English. Latin infinitives are never split simply because they are one word, and so can't be split. Anyway, Latin isn't English, so there's no reason to try to force English to go by the rules of Latin g

Blue JayThere's nothing inherently wrong with splitting infinitives.

Nor with not splitting them, so why not write in a classier style when you can?

I've never bought the Latin argument, by the way. It's outlived its usefulness. All the "modern grammarians" were trashing Latin for some time, but lately they're bringing back terms like "dative" and "

I strongly suspect that considering it classier not to split infinitives (I edited my original word order for you, CJ!) is solely a result of people being told it's wrong to split infinitives. "It's wrong to split infinitives, therefore a sentence with a split infinitive looks wrong, therefore even if it isn't really wrong to split an infinitive it's better not to split infinitives".

Blue Jay"It's wrong to split infinitives, therefore a sentence with a split infinitive looks wrong, therefore even if it isn't really wrong to split an infinitive it's better not to split infinitives".

Now you're talking! Years of reading, especially 19th century works of fiction, have had their effect on me. But I think a split infinitive actually sounds wr

CalifJimDifferent things bother different people.

Right you are, Jim!

CalifJimI recently spotted a case of an objection to "alright" instead of "all right" from the same person who had no objection to split infinitives.

When I attended school, I was told 'alright' is wrong and I suppose I have avoided it since then. I wouldn

CalifJim more because I've virtually never read it than because somebody told me not to use it.

Yes, but that probably stems from writers consciously avoiding split infinitives.

CalifJimWould you seriously be indifferent had I said "... told me to not use it" in my last sentence above?

In that sentence I'd feel as though I

Blue JayWhat would you do with "We expect our output to more than double next year"?

Ignore it. Pretend it didn't happen. Call it an exception.