Split infinitives

Q. First of all, what is an infinitive?
A. An infinitive is the “to” form of a verb: to run, to go, to jump, to wear, etc.

• I love to snack.
• I like to study grammar.

Q. So what’s a split infinitive?
A. A split infinitive is when you insert an adverb between the “to” and the verb. The most famous example is from Star Trek: To boldly go where no man has gone before.

• I love to always snack.
• I like to thoroughly study grammar. 

Q. Are split infinitives bad?
A. Technically, there are no grammatical rules that state it’s improper to split infinitives, but for some reason it’s been drilled into writers since grade school that you shouldn’t.

Q. So should I split infinitives?
A. You can, but it’ll just annoy people who only think they are as grammatically informed as you are. Rather than reeducate the whole world, it’s easier to avoid splitting infinitives:

• I love to snack always.
• I like to study grammar thoroughly.

You can also just avoid infinitives altogether

• I love snacking.
• I like a thorough study of grammar. 

Fun Fact: The “Don’t Split Infinitives” rule was developed in the mid-nineteenth century when Victorian scholars (having nothing else to do since there was no TV yet) decided to return to pure Latin grammatical rules.

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