英语语法：223 Split Infinitives

by Mignon Fogarty

You may have heard there's a rule that you shouldn't split infinitives², but I'm here to tell you it's not a real rule, and the idea itself is based on a shaky foundation.
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What are Infinitives?
To understand split infinitives, we first have to clearly define the word “infinitive¹.” Wikipedia defines “infinitive” as the unmarked form of a verb (1), but you really need examples to understand what that means. In English, there are two kinds of infinitives: bare infinitives and full infinitives. Bare infinitives are the kind of verbs you usually see in a dictionary, such as
go
sprinkle
run
split
Full infinitives are made up of two words, usually putting the word “to” in front of the bare verb:
to go
to sprinkle
to run
to split
What Is a Split Infinitive?
A split infinitive puts an adverb between the two parts of the full infinitive. “To generously sprinkle” is a split infinitive because “generously” splits the word “to” from the word “sprinkle.”
If you want to remember what a split infinitive is, just remember what might be the most famous example: Star Trek³'s “to boldly go where no one has gone before.” “To boldly go” is a split infinitive. “Boldly” splits “to go.”
The Latin Origin of the Split Infinitive Rule
Many sources say the origin of the misguided rule against splitting infinitives in English comes from a devotion to Latin that was prominent in the late 1800s. The Victorian Era was a time of great language debate, with dueling⁴ dictionaries and people pontificating about language. The conventional wisdom is that people decided⁵ that because infinitives can't be split in Latin, they shouldn't be split in English (2).
One of the earliest printed instances of the rule against splitting infinitives comes from an 1864 book called The Queen's English by Henry Alford (3), and through the magic of Google Books, you can see the entry yourself. Alford was the Dean of Canterbury. He had given a series of lectures on language and compiled them into a casual book, which became quite popular.
On split infinitives, Alford wrote, “A correspondent states as his own usage, and defends, the insertion of an adverb between the sign of the infinitive mood and the verb. He gives the instance 'to scientifically illustrate⁶.' But surely this practice is entirely⁷ unknown to English speakers and writers. It seems to me that we ever regard the 'to' of the infinitive as inseparable from its verb. And when we have the choice between the two forms of expression 'to scientifically illustrate' and 'to illustrate scientifically,' there seems no good reason for flying in the face of common usage.”
The Common Usage Argument Against Split Infinitives
It may be that Alford was influenced by the unsplittable Latin infinitives, but in his book, he invokes⁸ common usage as his reason. It's also odd that he says, “surely this practice is entirely unknown to English speakers and writers,” when he's responding to a correspondent who describes doing it.
If you tried invoking⁹ common usage today to argue with the people who think you shouldn't split infinitives, you likely wouldn't get very far. They'd probably say people also use the word “irregardless,” but that doesn't make it right.

Actually, other writers started arguing with Alford about his assertion pretty quickly, but for some reason his dictum caught on with teachers who started teaching it as a strict rule, and some continue to do so to this day, even though you won't find a modern grammar book or style guide that says you should never split an infinitive.
Should You Split Infinitives?
What's a modern working writer to do? If you split infinitives, you'll likely get nasty mail from cranky people who believe it's their job to enforce imaginary grammar rules; so it kind of depends on how much you hate getting that kind of mail.
On the other hand, there's also no reason to deliberately¹⁰ split infinitives when you know it's going to upset people. The safer path is always to avoid splitting an infinitive. I would never split an infinitive in a pitch letter to an editor, for example, because there are certainly editors out there who believe the myth. If you want to get the assignment, don't split infinitives. For the same reason, I'd never split an infinitive in a cover letter for a job.
How to Avoid a Split Infinitive
It usually easy to avoid splitting an infinitive. Instead of “to boldly go where no one has gone before,” the Star Trek writers could just have easily have written, “to go boldly where no one has gone before.”
You do have to be careful though. Sometimes when you try to avoid splitting an infinitive you can change the meaning of a sentence. Consider this example:
Steve decided to quickly remove Amy's cats.
The split infinitive is “to quickly remove,” but if you move the adverb “quickly” before the infinitive, you could imply that Steve made the decision quickly.
Steve decided quickly to remove Amy's cats.
You could put the adverb at the end—Steve decided to remove Amy's cats quickly—but that seems potentially ambiguous. You may want to rewrite the sentence without the split infinitive to make the same point:
Steve decided to grab Amy's cats and set them free before she got back from the corner market.
That's clear and doesn't have a split infinitive, but it also isn't necessary to rewrite the sentence unless it's important that your writing be as safe as possible. The bottom line is that you can usually avoid splitting infinitives if you want to, but don't let anyone tell you that it's forbidden.
 

1 infinitive   

n.不定词；adj.不定词的

参考例句：

• The use of the split infinitive is now generally acceptable.分裂不定式的用法现在已被广泛接受。
• Modal verbs generally take the bare infinitive.情态动词通常用不带to的不定式。

2 infinitives   

n.（动词）不定式( infinitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her litmus test for good breeding is whether you split infinitives. 她测试别人是否具有良好教养的标准是看对方是否在不定式的动词前加修饰副词。 来自互联网
• Nouns, adjectives and infinitives can be used as objective complements. 名词，形容词及不定式可用作补语。 来自互联网

3 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

4 dueling   

n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些，但仍感到有些困惑，在这种心情下，他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时，最后打成平局。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 invokes   

v.援引( invoke的第三人称单数 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• The Roundtable statement invokes the principles of the free market system. 企业界圆桌会议的声明援用了自由市场制度的原则。 来自辞典例句
• When no more storage is available, the system invokes a garbage collector. 当没有可用的存贮时，系统就调用无用单元收集程序。 来自辞典例句

9 invoking   

v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• You can customise the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can customize the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自辞典例句

10 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。