What is a Split Infinitive?
An infinitive is split when the verb, which in English will have a ‘to’ accompanying it, is not placed next to the actual doing word. So we could say ‘I am going to wash my hair with a different shampoo.’ Here the infinitive is ‘to wash.’ However, if we split the infinitive then the sentence would read, ‘I am going to always wash my hair with a different shampoo.’ Here the word ‘to’ and the word ‘wash’ have been separated by the word ‘always’, which has effectively split the infinitive.
Within everyday spoken English the infinitive is split so often that most people don’t even notice, but within written English and particularly when writing business English, it is not best practice. As a golden rule to follow, check that when you use an infinitive, which in English has the ‘to’ attached to it, that it is next to the verb. An easy way of identifying a verb is to describe it as a ‘doing’ word. It is the word that conveys what is being done and it is active in the sentence.
It is actually quite easy to see if you have split an infinitive through thoroughly proofreading your work after you have finished it, then for added measure, utilising an online punctuation software application so that you can be absolutely sure that your infinitives are presented as they should be. This is not really something to worry about in spoken English, but due care should be taken when writing to avoid splitting your infinitives.
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