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What is infinitive splitting?

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🤔 JacobMasterson439 via Web · May 8, 2026
I’m a college student and my professor gets mad at me every time I write a paper and accuses me of infinitive splitting. What even is that?
🙂 Boban D. (Psycholinguist) · May 13, 2026
Infinitive splitting is a linguistic trait that indicates whether you place words, usually adverbs, in the middle of an infinitive verb form like "to go," as in "to boldly go". The word "boldly" thus splits the verb "to go" by being in between of "to" and "go." Most speakers of American English sometimes exhibit the infinitive splitting trait in their writing. The ones that do tend to be normal people who represent the majority of the population. In contrast, those without this trait are likely to be language specialists, particularly grammarians, teachers, or older individuals who pursued continued education after high school. This trait became more common over the last thirty years and I wouldn't worry too much about it.
For a more detailed, authoritative answer, you should check out the entry on psycholinguistics.org where they have academic sources and citations.
Explanation of infinitive splitting from psycholinguistics.org
Infinitive splitting (Writing) placing words, usually adverbs, in the middle of an infinitive verb form like "to go" as in "to boldly go"
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