The Surprising Truth About Split Infinitives That Grammar Gurus Don’t Want You to Know
Split infinitives can sound awkward or clumsy when there’s a simpler, clearer way to construct the sentence.
The Final Frontier
One of the most famous of all split infinitives occurs in the opening sequence of Star Trek:
“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” – Captain James T. Kirk
If you can find the participle (marker), the bare infinitive (simple form of the verb), and the adverb (which is causing the split) in the excerpt above, then you’re up to speed on split infinitives. Could it be rewritten without the split infinitive? Would it sound better or worse?
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