split infinitive

noun

: an infinitive with to having a modifier between the to and the verbal (as in "to really start")

What is a split infinitive?: Usage Guide

The split infinitive was discovered, named, and rejected by grammarians in the 19th century, when writers were making greater use of it than they had in preceding centuries. The construction had in fact been in occasional use since the 14th century; only its frequency had changed. Much maligned throughout the 20th century, the split infinitive is now widely accepted especially when it aids in clarity.

to quickly find the solution

Examples of split infinitive in a Sentence

“To really start” is an example of a split infinitive.

Recent Examples on the Web

In the course of drafting his story, Chandler was no less annoyed by Hollywood than by a new unlikely foe: an Atlantic copy editor, who’d shown the temerity to fix a split infinitive in his text. —Emma Sarappo, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026

No reputable authority on usage, either in England or in the United States, bans the split infinitive. —Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Jan. 2024

The next year, President Kennedy made a resonant decision: to boldly go, as the Star Trek prologue was to put it in a ringing split infinitive, where no man had gone before. —Anthony Haden-Guest, Harper's Magazine, 26 Oct. 2021

The app and browser extension works across programs and platforms, pointing out your split infinitives in emails, word processors, websites, or on social media. —Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2020

For the prigs, the mania for FAANG stocks is as abhorrent as a split infinitive. —The Economist, 23 June 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for split infinitive

• definitive
• unimaginative

Kids Definition

split infinitive

noun

: an infinitive with to having a modifier between the to and the verbal (as in "to really start")