Really Easy Grammar – No. 38: Why To Calmly Split an Infinitive

Bill Moore

Like everything else conceived by the minds of humans, grammar and its rule come into and go out of fashion. Shakespeare could use double negatives, but we're not supposed to. An educated person in the 17th Century could say ain't, but not now. When you're a writer-for-hire, it's your job to know the rules, know when they can be bent or broken, and know when they must be followed. But it ain't always easy.

Take this rule: "You must never split an infinitive." When you put to with a verb such as to walk, to see, or to split, that's called an infinitive verb. The rule says that nothing can come between the to and its verb. According to this rule, you shouldn't write "to boldly go where no man has gone before." And, yet, what's wrong with "He began to closely watch his neighbor" compared with "He began to watch his neighbor closely?" There's no doubt in either case who's watching who and how.

So, why would somebody even come up with that rule when it doesn't seem to serve any useful purpose? The answer goes back about three hundred years when some English scholars decided that English should follow the same rule of grammar as Classical Latin. They thought Latin was a perfect language, so they didn't care that the two languages simply don't work in the same way. Here's a quick example. In Latin, instead of having to in front of a verb to make an infinitive, you add –are or -ere to the end of it. So, AMO VITAM means I love life and AMARE VITAM means to love life. So, in Latin the infinitive is all one word, and you can't very well put anything between the verb and its ending. AM VITAM ARE just doesn't mean anything. In English, since we make a verb an infinitive by putting to in front of it, it really doesn't matter if there's something between the to and the verb. The sentence still makes sense and shows why we don't need the rule.

So, if you want to generally write correctly, which rules do you follow and which ones break? The answer I found that works best is to simply go with my Golden Rule for Writers, which is: Who has the gold makes the rule. Major organizations have style guides, and all your clients have opinions on what's correct and what isn't. When you accept a job, whether you're getting paid or not, you accept the responsibility to write in the style preferred by the person you're writing for. That doesn't mean that you can't suggest that there's a better way. After all, you are the professional, and it's your job to produce the most effective copy possible. But, if your opinion isn't accepted, you don't have a choice. I disagree about not putting a comma before the and in a series, and I put one in unless the client says not to. Then I don't. I don't agree, but it's tough to argue with the reason "because I said so" when it comes from the person paying me. 

Bill Moore is the author of Write Rite Right. This compendium of homophones, homonyms, and frequently misapplied words is a necessary resource for anyone who writes for others to read. (Available on backoftheroom.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com) Bill works with businesses, focusing on organizational development and corporate training with emphasis on communications and product presentation. He helps his clients sharpen communication and selling skills and reach targeted audiences effectively. He's a freelance trainer, researcher, and technical writer with over 30 years professional experience. Visit his Website, http://www.WriteRiteRight.com for more information on words and writing. You can contact him personally at bill_moore@WriteRiteRight.com

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