I learnt that infinitives can't be split. But, sometimes, I see it is done.
One of the most known example is the famous phrase "to boldly go where no man has gone before."
My question: Is there any case in which we can split the infinitive?
Thank you.
The idea that you can't split an infinitive is a wonderful example of a "grammar myth." You will not find any authoritative usage guide written in the last hundred years that says you can't split an infinitive. In fact you will find that they all say that you can, and that the idea that you can't is a silly grammar myth.
The bizarre thing is that some authorities will say something like this: "Even though there is nothing wrong with splitting an infinitive, some people think there is, so to be on the safe side you may want to avoid doing it anyway."
In my opinion, it's just insane to say that "to be really understood" is fine, but that there's something terribly wrong with "to really understand." I can't believe anyone really feels this as part of language structure; it's just a completely artificial rule.
Wikipedia has a great article on the subject:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_infinitive
and under current views ("current" meaning from 1931 on!) they say:
"Present style and usage manuals deem simple split infinitives unobjectionable. For example, 'Curme's Grammar of the English Language' (1931) says that not only is the split infinitive correct, but it 'should be furthered rather than censured, for it makes for clearer expression.' The 'Columbia Guide to Standard American English' notes that the split infinitive 'eliminates all possibility of ambiguity,' in contrast to the 'potential for confusion' in an unsplit construction. 'Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage' says, 'the objection to the split infinitive has never had a rational basis.' According to Mignon Fogarty, 'today almost everyone agrees that it is OK to split infinitives.'"
If you know that your writing will be read by someone who thinks you should not split infinitives, don't split them. When in doubt, write whatever is clearest. If it gets "corrected," don't argue about it.
I think that is a common misconception, like never ending a sentence with a preposition. Sometimes it can't be helped, and sometimes doing so intentionally can draw attention to something or make a point.
For example, Winston Churchill made fun of the preposition rule by saying, "This is the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put." Which would be linguistically correct but makes no sense.
Similarly, I believe the idea of not splitting the infinitive actually comes from Latin where it is impossible to split the infinitive.
It's a nice and useful topic to know about!
@Michael, I went through the link you provided in your comment and I got the concept about this split infinitive. I also use it and sometimes get confused but I try to resolve it by saying the sentence out loud so that I can find which one sounds strange and which one not!
But after looking at the sentence you've written in your comment, I got a doubt that if using "quietly" in between "to" and "talk" sounds strange then where can I use it in the sentence?
Maybe I can use it after "talk" like--- "My neighbours make so much noise! I would prefer them to talk quietly instead of doing it so loudly." It sounds correct but the emphasis on "talk" is no more there! So I think it matters though it sounds strange. Or is there any other way to say it which can stress the verb "talk"? So could you please make it clear to me?
Again, the link provided by @Dan, I came across a sentence--- ."She decided to gradually get rid of the teddy bear she had collected." But if I want to change the split infinitive form then where should I put "Gradually"! Maybe after "Decided" or in the beginning. Right? But I think the meaning of the sentence will be changed a bit. So there are no other options instead of using the first sentence which is in the split infinitive form. So should I go for it or is there any other alternative for it?
In response to Sudeep, in my example, the word "quietly" is more important to stress than talk. We could have said "be quiet", "act quietly" etc. but quietly is the more important word in order make sense of the overall sentence.
"talk quietly" does sound natural. See also the explanation of the ambiguity in my previous comment.
