Split Infinitives

Contrary to popular belief, there is no written grammatical rule forbidding the usage of split infinitives. One famous split infinitive comes from the Star Trek opening, “To boldly go where no man has gone before.” A split infinitive is when an adverb or adverbial phrase is placed between “to” and the verb. The unwritten rule is that “to split” has to stay together as one package when used in a sentence.

Although there is no written rule against split infinitives, they are still frowned upon in formal writing situations. Therefore, split infinitives are best left out of a sentence. However, it is not wise to mangle a sentence simply to avoid splitting an infinitive. Consider the following sentences:

“I plan to enjoy really Grad Night.” or “I plan to really enjoy Grad Night.”

In this instance, keeping the infinitive “to enjoy” as one complete package would be awkward.