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"in order to 'better' solve a problem" sounds uncommon, is something wrong?

English Language Learners Asked by brennn on December 28, 2021

This video is saying

in order to better
visualize the cost function J, I’m going to …

with the same structure, we could make this sentence

in order to better solve a problem

sounds uncommon, is something wrong?

2 Answers

“better” is being used as an adverb here. You can also do the same with “best”.

If X is a better (or the best) solution to problem Y, then you can say that “X better (or best) solves Y”.

Note that X is often implicitly compared to the status quo, such as “we can better serve our customers by staying open an hour later (than we do today).”

The specific structure “to [adverb] [verb]” is called a “split infinitive”, and some purists dislike it, but it is nevertheless commonly used and accepted. The canonical example is “to boldly go” from Star Trek.

Answered by StephenS on December 28, 2021

"better" is also a verb:
His total of five gold medals is unlikely to be bettered.

You can also find the similar structure in the book of "Interdisciplinarity for the 21st Century" page 113, ( in order to better solve it)

Answered by lee on December 28, 2021

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