# Please explain why you believe we should not split infinitives.. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088 "2009-03-19T22:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/1 "2009-03-19T22:58:16Z")
or, contrariwise, why it’s perfectly fine to do do in your opinion. Anyone? Buellerr? ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/2 "2009-03-19T23:58:49Z")
Because if I do it at work I get dinged? (I’m a technical writer) ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/3 "2009-03-20T00:14:28Z")
If people were to regularly split infinitives it would cause society to instantly and irrevocably descend into anarchy. Though perhaps I am overreacting. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/4 "2009-03-20T00:46:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > or, contrariwise, why it’s perfectly fine to do do in your opinion. > > Anyone? Buellerr? I have heard that it is because the first widely literate english speaking class were typically also literate in Latin, and it is impossible to split a Latin infinitive. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/5 "2009-03-20T00:51:23Z")
It is not, **and has never been** , wrong to split an infinitive. Whatever makes the sentence look and sound best is the correct approach, split or not split. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/6 "2009-03-20T01:23:02Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > or, contrariwise, why it’s perfectly fine to do do in your opinion. > > Anyone? Buellerr? It’s _always_ perfectly fine to do-do in your opinion. Just make sure it’s your own opinion and nobody else’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/7 "2009-03-20T02:04:13Z")
I tend to avoid splitting infinitives because I was an English major, but I see no reason for it. There’s no impact on clarity either way. It often sounds more natural to my ear to split them. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/8 "2009-03-20T02:05:34Z")
[Here’s](http://www.theslot.com/split.html) an excellent explanation of the bogusness of the “don’t split infinitives” “rule.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/9 "2009-03-20T02:14:50Z")
The reason for not splitting infinitives is simple and clear: You don’t split infinitives because, in Latin, infinitives are one word. So I’m sure everyone now under – wait, you don’t? You say you’re speaking English, not Latin? You barbarian! Everyone knows that Latin is the perfect language and everything else is just a debased form of it. Thus, the more we obey Latin rules (Yes, even if they don’t apply and I don’t think I heard who said that. Detention for you all!), the better we speak English. What? English has Germanic roots? The Latin roots were grafted on. There’s a simple explanation for that. It’s – detention to you for asking! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/10 "2009-03-20T02:24:23Z")
I couldn’t take more than three hours of German because I didn’t too well know English grammar and you’re asking me _this_ already? I thought “outf–kingstanding” was a split infinitive.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/11 "2009-03-20T02:50:15Z")
I vote for whatever sounds best. After all, “To boldly go where no man has gone before” is damned close to iambic pentameter. Yeah, yeah, I know “where no man” is a dactyl. But rewrite the line so the infinitive is not split, and the meter is clunky. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/12 "2009-03-20T02:58:24Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > … I know “where no man” is a dactyl. … Would that be a terra-dactyl? ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/13 "2009-03-20T13:08:11Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > [Here’s](http://www.theslot.com/split.html) an excellent explanation of the bogusness of the “don’t split infinitives” “rule.” That was a great link, **Scarlett**. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/14 "2009-03-20T13:16:52Z")
> [@Chum](#): > > I tend to avoid splitting infinitives because I was an English major, … Conversely, because I was an English major (long ago, back in the middle of the last century), I’m perfectly happy to split infinitives, whenever it seems right to so do. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/15 "2009-03-20T13:31:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The reason for not splitting infinitives is simple and clear: > > You don’t split infinitives because, in Latin, infinitives are one word. > > So I’m sure everyone now under – wait, you don’t? You say you’re speaking English, not Latin? You barbarian! Everyone knows that Latin is the perfect language and everything else is just a debased form of it. Thus, the more we obey Latin rules (Yes, even if they don’t apply and I don’t think I heard who said that. Detention for you all!), the better we speak English. > > What? English has Germanic roots? The Latin roots were grafted on. There’s a simple explanation for that. It’s – detention to you for asking! This. (I once asked my teacher why we had Latin lessons. “So you can read the classics in their original language. And stop messing with that computer, or whatever it is.”) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/16 "2009-03-20T14:34:16Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > [Here’s](http://www.theslot.com/split.html) an excellent explanation of the bogusness of the “don’t split infinitives” “rule.” But that’s someone else’s opinion, Scarlett. I’m doing a POLL. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/17 "2009-03-20T15:19:24Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > But that’s someone else’s opinion, Scarlett. I’m doing a POLL. Well, I would hope it’s obvious that I agree with what Bill Walsh (the author of the site) wrote. He explains it better than I could, and pretty much covers what I would say. I thought it would be illuminating. You know, fighting ignorance and all that. With a cite from the copy chief for national news at the _Washington Post_ to back me up. (Are you going to ding **glee** for simply agreeing with **RealityChuck** , too? :dubious: ) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/18 "2009-03-20T15:23:35Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > Well, I would hope it’s obvious that I agree with what Bill Walsh (the author of the site) wrote. He explains it better than I could, and pretty much covers what I would say. I thought it would be illuminating. And so it was! > [@](#): > > (Are you going to ding **glee** for simply agreeing with **RealityChuck** , too? :dubious: ) Actually I was just making a joke. Rhymers don’t ding. It’s one of the rules **Thomas the Rhymer** established when he founded the clan, along with never punching alligators in the face without good reason. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/19 "2009-03-20T15:27:58Z")
We should split infinitives less often because it is, at times, the result of using an adverb that a better verb choice would render redundant. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/20 "2009-03-20T15:29:23Z")
Ah. Forgot this was a poll. Then count me firmly with the splitter camp. I read a trade magazine and they must have software that automatically un-splits submitted articles. Two or three times, for every blessed article, I stumble to a stop and wonder how someone could cook up that particular phrasing. Do what sounds best. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088.md?page=2)