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adverb modifying the infinitive in front of the infinitive marker 'to'

English Language & Usage Asked on August 20, 2021

I think I saw some ordinary adverbs modifying the infinitive in front of the infinitive marker ‘to’, which were not ‘not’ nor ‘never’. Is this usage of adverbs standard? (I thought you wouldn’t need any examples.)

One Answer

The usage (To clearly perceive) is not regarded as standard by many editors, but is undoubtedly common (see the humorous https://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2017/sep/25/to-boldly-go-split-infinitive-grammatical-error-research).

A full discussion is at http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/grammar/splitinf.html

The rule that an infinitive should not be split is arbitrary, unnecessarily inhibiting, and does not reflect common usage.

Answered by Anton on August 20, 2021

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