What writers and others say
“Writers should learn to not split infinitives.”
— Anonymous
“In those days men were real men, women were real women, small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. And all dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before — and thus was the Empire forged.”
— Douglas Adams, author, in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
“Your split infinitives put such a stress on the adverb.”
— Adrienne (played by Alicia Silverstone) to Nick (played by Cary Elwes) In the movie “The Crush”
“No other grammatical issue has so divided English speakers since the split infinitive was declared to be a solecism in the 19th century.”
— Robert Allen, editor, Pocket Fowler’s Modern English Usage
“People split infinitives all the time without giving it a thought.”
— American Heritage Book of English Usage
“One reason why the older generation feel so strongly about English grammar is that we were severely punished if we didn’t obey the rules! One split infinitive, one whack; two split infinitives, two whacks; and so on.”
— BBC correspondent on a program about English grammar
“The natural position for a modifier is before the word it modifies. Thus the natural position for an adverb modifying an infinitive should be just after the to … [T]he split infinitive is often an improvement.”
— Theodore M. Bernstein, author of The Careful Writer
“By the way, would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss-waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will remain split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of barroom vernacular, this is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed and attentive.”
— Raymond Chandler, complaining to the editor of The Atlantic Monthly about a proofreader who changed Chandler’s split infinitives
The split infinitive “should be furthered rather than censured, for it makes for clearer expression.”
— George Oliver Curme, Sr., author of A Grammar of the English Language
“The Victorian Era was a time of great language debate with dueling dictionaries and people pontificating about language. The conventional wisdom is that people decided that because infinitives can’t be split in Latin, they shouldn’t be split in English.”
— Mignon Fogarty, aka “Grammar Girl”
“‘The greatest difficulty about assessing the economic achievements of the Soviet Union is that its spokesmen try absurdly to exaggerate them; in consequence the visitor may tend badly to underrate them.’ This question results: Has dread of the split infinitive led the writer to attach the adverbs [‘absurdly’ and ‘badly’] to the wrong verbs, and would he not have done better to boldly split both infinitives, since he cannot put the adverbs after them without spoiling his rhythm?
— H. W. Fowler, author, Fowler’s Modern English Usage
“The ‘split’ infinitive has taken such hold upon the consciences of journalists that, instead of warning the novice against splitting his infinitives, we must warn him against the curious superstition that the splitting or not splitting makes the difference between a good and a bad writer.”
— Fowler and Fowler, authors of The King’s English
“An infinitive may be split by a one-word modifier that would be awkward in any other position.”
— James A. W. Heffernan and John E. Lincoln, authors of Writing: A College Handbook, 4th ed.
“Split my infinitives, but ’tis my hour of triumph!”
— Captain Hook in Peter Pan
“‘To’ is no more an essential part of an infinitive than the definite article is an essential part of a nominative, and no one would think of calling ‘the good man’ a ‘split nominative.'”
— Otto Jespersen, author, Growth and Structure of the English Language
“I call for the immediate dismissal of this pedant. It is of no consequence whether he decides to go quickly or to quickly go or quickly to go. The important thing is that he should go at once.”
— George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, writing to the London Times about someone who had “fixed” Shaw’s split infinitives
“Most modern English usage guides have dropped the objection to the split infinitive.”
— Wikipedia’s “Split infinitive” page
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