3 ms·

For the stuff inside the split infinitive, it can to tough to know where else to put it. So, what would we want? "Boldly to go where ..." or "To go boldly w

by graycat 12y ago

For the stuff inside the split infinitive, it can to tough to know where else to put it. So, what would we want? "Boldly to go where ..." or "To go boldly where ..."? To be really clear that 'boldly' modifies 'to go', it's easiest to split the infinitive. Your "She wants to gradually get rid of her teddy bears." is terrific! There's just no good other place to put 'gradually'! In case you misunderstood me, for grammar for English, really I have no sympathy for what the heck Latin did!

mrpoptart 12y ago
> There's just no good other place to put 'gradually'! She wants to get rid of her teddy bears gradually.
- tekromancr 12y ago
  Not an english expert, but would "She wants, gradually, to get rid of her teddy bears" work?
  - graycat 12y ago
    Problem is, without thinking about the likely meaning, at first glance it's not clear what 'gradually' modifies, that is, it may modify 'wants', that is, her wanting is only gradual and not yet full; such are some of the possibilities of subtlety of meaning with the English language!
    - tekromancr 12y ago
      Ohh, I see the confusion there, but I like the ambiguity it causes. It reminds me of "Pretty little girl's school"
- graycat 12y ago
  I thought of that but regarded 'gradually' as too far, too many words away, from 'get', the word it is modifying.
  - aninhumer 12y ago
    It's not as good as the split infinitive, but it works okay despite the distance, because it's modifying the entire sentence.
    - graycat 12y ago
      When I was diagramming sentences, they never let me modify "the entire sentence"! Maybe the reason was that Latin never did that!