# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**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 21, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/41 "2009-03-21T15:29:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Well, you won’t be late for work, and all that money you save on gas could be donated to orphanages. Do orphanages even exist anymore? ---
**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 21, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/42 "2009-03-21T16:02:30Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Do orphanages even exist anymore? [Surely.](http://www.orphanage.org/) But you digress, and try and shirk your duty to Do Good with your teleporter. Shame, shame! ---
**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 21, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/43 "2009-03-21T16:11:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [Surely.](http://www.orphanage.org/) > > But you digress, and try and shirk your duty to Do Good with your teleporter. Shame, shame! I gave up the OVERLORD part, not the EVIL part. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/44 "2009-03-21T18:12:28Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m going to be lazy: > > Some [del]persons with metallic rods stuck up their asses[/del] grammarians and English teachers feel that split infinitives should never, ever be allowed, because they were not used in Latin. Of course, they were disallowed in Latin because in that language the infinitive was a single word, not a two-word phrase. Those who object to this are generally the same sort of asshole who insist that a sentence may not end with a preposition, which is, of course, a bit of tomfoolery up with which I will not put. Heh. If we don’t split infinitives and put prepositions at the end of sentences, how else could we tell the story of the little boy who went upstairs to bed after asking his father to read him a story. Dad grabs a book and comes up. Boy sees the book and says, “Oh, I hate that story. Why did you bring that book that I didn’t want to be read to out of up for?” ---
**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 21, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/45 "2009-03-21T19:49:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Heh. If we don’t split infinitives and put prepositions at the end of sentences, how else could we tell the story of [. . .] You didn’t get it quite right. Here, I’ll fix it: the little boy who went upstairs to bed after asking his father to read him a story. Dad grabs a book **about Australia** and comes up. Boy sees the book and says, “Oh, I hate that story. Why did you bring that book that I didn’t want to be read to out of **about Down Under** up **from below** for?” ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/46 "2009-03-21T20:30:16Z")
I like to boldly, freely, confidently, and with utter abandon in favor of the odd flourish, split them whenever it feels right. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088/47 "2009-03-21T20:46:35Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > 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. Indeed, but I believe that’s a matter of not overusing adverbs and adjectives, which is a worthier goal than not splitting infinitives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-why-you-believe-we-should-not-split-infinitives/490088.md?page=2)