Split Infinitives trivia
Split Infinitives Mini Quiz
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Question 1
Seen in the Star Trek phrase "to boldly go," what grammatical construction is created by placing an adverb between "to" and a verb?
Because the base form of an English verb comprises two words, writers can insert adverbs between them, a practice modern style guides generally deem acceptable.
Question 2
The sci-fi series Star Trek famously uses what grammatical construction in the phrase "to boldly go"?
Many modern style guides embrace this construction, arguing that relocating the adverb to avoid splitting the verb can ruin a sentence's natural rhythm and emphasis.
Question 3
Why did traditional grammarians originally invent the strict rule against using split infinitives?
Because a Latin infinitive is a single word, it is physically impossible to split. Victorian scholars artificially applied this restriction to English rules.