Split Infinitives

“Hey, James, Mr. Pomeroy is wrong about splitting infinitives! To occasionally split an infinitive is fine. Captain Kirk splits an infinitive when he states the mission of the Starship Enterprise at the beginning of each Star Trek episode.

“You’re talking about ‘to boldly go where no man has gone before’ where ‘boldly’ is placed between the two words of the infinitive, to go. That’s not Captain Kirk’s only grammatical mistake. Saying ‘man’ excludes both women and alien beings. He also ends the sentence with a preposition: ‘before.’ We should report him to Star Fleet Command.”

Definition and Examples

An infinitive usually consists of to plus the base form of the verb. Examples: to run, to hide

This infinitive form does not indicate past, present, or future verb tense and does not connect to the subject of the sentence. Example: Joseph liked to go to the mall. “Joseph” is the subject and “liked” is the predicate. The infinitive “to go” serves as a modifier of the verb, “liked,” but does not signal past, present, or future action.

A split infinitive occurs when the speaker or writer inserts one or more words between the to and the base form of the verb. Examples: To never walk is his goal. She wants to someday soon ski.

Read the rules.

• Splitting infinitives is fine in casual conversation and in informal writing; however, avoid adding more than one word between the to and the base form of the verb.
• Avoid using split infinitives in formal writing, such as in essays.

Practice

Write the following sentences and [bracket] the split infinitives in the following sentences.

1. To seriously ask the question of the comic was his choice, alone.
2. Zoe wished to always be considered the expert, and she hoped to soon achieve her goal.
3. Why do you need to completely and totally abandon the plan to somehow defend your honor?
4. I did not expect to have to willingly go when I would have rather stayed at home.
5. Listening to music makes me happy to be alive and to often visit my friends.

Revise the split infinitive.

It is a mistake to ever split an infinitive.

Answers

1. [To seriously ask] the question of the comic was his choice, alone.
2. Zoe wished [to always be] considered the expert, and she hoped [to soon achieve] her goal.
3. Why do you need [to completely and totally abandon] the plan [to somehow defend] your honor?
4. I did not expect to have [to willingly go] when I would have rather stayed at home.
5. Listening to music makes me happy to be alive and [to often visit my friends].

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Mark Pennington, M.A. Reading Specialist

Thirty-six years teaching ELA and reading, elementary through community college, plus district reading specialist. He wrote every program on this site.

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