Well, you can actually. You don’t always have to, but there’s no rule saying you can’t. But what exactly is an infinitive, and what does it mean to split one?
Why Can’t You Split an Infinitive?
reading
The Game’s Afoot
I had a really great idea today, at about 08.00am, while I was half asleep. I’ve no idea now what it was, just a vague sense that it was about some words with different meanings that have a shared etymology. Whatever it was, it was interesting (to me), but it’s gone now.
Kind Regards
A lot of us write a lot more than we used to. If you work in a office, or even from home, there’s a good chance that your job requires you to send at least a few emails a day. I sent 34 work emails on Wednesday, for example (I also sent a lot on Thursday and Friday, but as the school I work in was closed because of the severe weather, I won’t count those). And this is still a relatively quiet period. Even if a lot of us are used to sending emails though, there’s something of an art to writing one.
Why is Peggy Short for Margaret?
What do these four women have in common?
Why, the fact that they all have the same name of course!
OK, they don’t really, but it’s not entirely inaccurate to say so. Why not? Read on…
I’m no Expert
It’s true, I’m not.
No matter how much I might sound like I think I am, most of what I share here is from my own informal research. Of course working in an English-language school helps, as does my own interest in language, but I could never claim to be an expert in any kind of official sense. Though, if you look at where the word comes from, then maybe I am…
I Put a Spell on You
At some point in the last few days I was writing about spelling, and a thought recurred to me: is it a coincidence that the verb to spell (as in, How do you spell that word?), and the noun spell (as in magic spell) are identical?
This time I’ve decided to pursue this line of inquiry, and the answer is basically: No, it’s not just a coincidence!
Why are they Called Romance Languages?
English-Language Thoughts 