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Maverick88 Posted 21 years ago
Linguistics Studies
To
I was taught not to separate between a "to" and a "verb", just like in this sentence. However, I often see in newspapers sentences like this: "This pledge commits you to not even speak against the Americans".
Both "even" and "not" came between. So my questions are:
1) Is it correct?
2) May "even" come between? Which other words may?
3) In which cases can I separate between a "to" and the "verb", like in the sentence above?
Thanks
Both "even" and "not" came between. So my questions are:
1) Is it correct?
2) May "even" come between? Which other words may?
3) In which cases can I separate between a "to" and the "verb", like in the sentence above?
Thanks
Top answer
Isn't this what was called a split infinitive? Perhaps formally but I think this rule is somewhat obsolete now, if it makes sense with it split, then split away! '
- Isn't this what was called a split infinitive?
- Perhaps formally but I think this rule is somewhat obsolete now, if it makes sense with it split, then split away!
- '
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31 Answers
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Isn't this what was called a split infinitive? Perhaps formally but I think this rule is somewhat obsolete now, if it makes sense with it split, then split away!
To quote star trek 'to boldly go, where no-one has gone before' sounds far better than 'To go boldly, where no-one has gone before.'
To quote star trek 'to boldly go, where no-one has gone before' sounds far better than 'To go boldly, where no-one has gone before.'
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The problem, in my opinion, has nothing to do with split infinitives. I believe the "to" in the expression "commits (someone) to" is a preposition. As such it should take the "ing" form.
"This pledge commits you to not even speaking against the Americans."
??? This pledge commits me to tell the truth.
This pledge commits me to telling the truth.
"This pledge commits you to not even speaking against the Americans."
??? This pledge commits me to tell the truth.
This pledge commits me to telling the truth.
00
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The rule against split infinitives was another gem of the prescriptive school of grammar. The CGEL states that there was/is "no rational basis for the prescriptive rule". Again, as with so many other PG rules, "[N]o reason was ever given as to why the construction was supposedly objectionable ...". They even got the name wrong; "It should be noted that the term 'split infinitive' is a misnomer".
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Those chaps at the NY Times are very busy, Maverick. They often don't have time to proof-read their web-blurb.
What a curious phrase 'star trek' is.
MrP
What a curious phrase 'star trek' is.
MrP
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I got to know the word "trek" when I visited South Africa.
(It was a time when Mr Nelson Mandela was still in a prison)
Isn't it a Dutch word?
Does 'star trek' mean 'trek by stars' or 'trek to stars'?
paco
(It was a time when Mr Nelson Mandela was still in a prison)
Isn't it a Dutch word?
Does 'star trek' mean 'trek by stars' or 'trek to stars'?
paco
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A 'trek to the stars', presumably – and strange because it's such a trudging, feet-on-ground kind of word. Yet used of a journey at the speed of light.
An odd mixture of the light and the leaden.
MrP
An odd mixture of the light and the leaden.
MrP
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That's the beauty of English, Mr P and the beauty of the minds that use it. They are not burdened by hidebound meanings that come from "too much time on one's hands".
"Children seem to manage this by being in sync with a striking feature of the language. Though most common words have many meanings, few meanings have more than one word. That is, homonyms are plentiful, synonyms rare. (Vi
"Children seem to manage this by being in sync with a striking feature of the language. Though most common words have many meanings, few meanings have more than one word. That is, homonyms are plentiful, synonyms rare. (Vi
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To whom it may concern.
Note: [url="http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1689114"] Gavagai problem[/url]
The philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine went after these sorts of questions in his 1960 work Word and Object. It is here that he first presents his now-classic "gav
Note: [url="http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1689114"] Gavagai problem[/url]
The philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine went after these sorts of questions in his 1960 work Word and Object. It is here that he first presents his now-classic "gav
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