split infinitive
an expression in which there is a word or phrase, especially an adverb or adverbial phrase, between to and its accompanying verb form in an infinitive, as in to readily understand.
Origin of split infinitive
1Grammar notes for split infinitive
Words Nearby split infinitive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use split infinitive in a sentence
She is not a bit of a purist and thinks more of a good thought forcefully put than of a slip in the way of a split infinitive.
Back at School with the Tucker Twins | Nell SpeedThe split infinitive I abhor, more as a matter of taste than argument.
From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life | Captain A. T. MahanStyle is not the art of writing melodious words or the craft or cunning of finding a way round the split infinitive.
Hilaire Belloc | C. Creighton MandellCondemnation of the split infinitive is now pretty general, but it is only recently that any one seems to have thought of it.
Write It Right | Ambrose BierceThen, if I split it, what else could it be but a split infinitive, I'd like to know?
British Dictionary definitions for split infinitive
(in English grammar) an infinitive used with another word between to (the infinitive marker) and the verb itself, as in I want to really finish it this time
usage For split infinitive
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for split infinitive
An infinitive is the “to” form of a verb, as in “to play.” A split infinitive is a phrase in which to is separated from the verb. The sentence “I decided to quickly and directly go home” contains a split infinitive. Some people consider it poor style, or even incorrect style, to split an infinitive.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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