"split infinitive" meaning in English

See split infinitive in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /splɪt ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation], /-nə-/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation] Audio: en-au-split infinitive.ogg [Australia] Forms: split infinitives [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} split infinitive (plural split infinitives)
  1. (grammar) An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb. Wikipedia link: Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? Categories (topical): English, Grammar Translations (an infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb): disigita infinitivo (Esperanto), getrennter Infinitiv (German)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for split infinitive meaning in English (4.1kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "split infinitives",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "split infinitive (plural split infinitives)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "hyphenation": [
    "split"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "English",
          "orig": "en:English",
          "parents": [
            "Languages",
            "Language",
            "Names",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Proper nouns",
            "Terms by semantic function",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nouns",
            "Lemmas"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Grammar",
          "orig": "en:Grammar",
          "parents": [
            "Linguistics",
            "Language",
            "Social sciences",
            "Communication",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1982 April 4, Nick Clarke, quoting Alistair Cooke, “Keeping in Touch”, in Alistair Cooke: A Biography, 1st U.S. edition, New York, N.Y.: Arcade Publishing, published 2000, page 487",
          "text": "Yeah, Ronnie! (or, the Split Infinitive of the Year, possibly the Century) – on being asked if the New York Times report was true that the 1983 deficit will be $124 billion, rather than the $91.5 billion in the Reagan budget … A: 'I couldn't answer until we have to, by law, shortly, in a couple of weeks, present an updated project.'",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Patricia Nelson Limerick, “The Adventures of the Frontier in the Twentieth Century”, in James R. Grossman, editor, The Frontier in American Culture: An Exhibition at the Newberry Library, August 26, 1994 – January 7, 1995, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, page 89",
          "text": "The split infinitive was regrettable, but the writers of Star Trek came up with the phrase to capture the essential idea brought to mind at the mention of the words \"frontier\" and \"pioneer\": \"to boldly go where no man has gone before.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, R[obert] L[awrence] Trask, “Introduction”, in Mind the Gaffe: The Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English (Penguin Reference Books), London: Penguin Books, page 17",
          "text": "Such fetishes as insisting on It's I, not ending sentences with prepositions, and avoiding split infinitives are all dismissed as the nonsense they are.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb."
      ],
      "id": "en-split_infinitive-en-noun-jUr~bzOy",
      "links": [
        [
          "grammar",
          "grammar"
        ],
        [
          "infinitive",
          "infinitive"
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        [
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        ],
        [
          "insert",
          "insert"
        ],
        [
          "to",
          "to#English"
        ],
        [
          "verb",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(grammar) An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "an infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb",
          "word": "disigita infinitivo"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb",
          "word": "getrennter Infinitiv"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/splɪt ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-nə-/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-split infinitive.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c2/En-au-split_infinitive.ogg/En-au-split_infinitive.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/En-au-split_infinitive.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "split infinitive"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "split infinitives",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "split infinitive (plural split infinitives)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "split"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:English",
        "en:Grammar"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1982 April 4, Nick Clarke, quoting Alistair Cooke, “Keeping in Touch”, in Alistair Cooke: A Biography, 1st U.S. edition, New York, N.Y.: Arcade Publishing, published 2000, page 487",
          "text": "Yeah, Ronnie! (or, the Split Infinitive of the Year, possibly the Century) – on being asked if the New York Times report was true that the 1983 deficit will be $124 billion, rather than the $91.5 billion in the Reagan budget … A: 'I couldn't answer until we have to, by law, shortly, in a couple of weeks, present an updated project.'",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Patricia Nelson Limerick, “The Adventures of the Frontier in the Twentieth Century”, in James R. Grossman, editor, The Frontier in American Culture: An Exhibition at the Newberry Library, August 26, 1994 – January 7, 1995, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, page 89",
          "text": "The split infinitive was regrettable, but the writers of Star Trek came up with the phrase to capture the essential idea brought to mind at the mention of the words \"frontier\" and \"pioneer\": \"to boldly go where no man has gone before.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, R[obert] L[awrence] Trask, “Introduction”, in Mind the Gaffe: The Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English (Penguin Reference Books), London: Penguin Books, page 17",
          "text": "Such fetishes as insisting on It's I, not ending sentences with prepositions, and avoiding split infinitives are all dismissed as the nonsense they are.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "grammar",
          "grammar"
        ],
        [
          "infinitive",
          "infinitive"
        ],
        [
          "modifier",
          "modifier"
        ],
        [
          "insert",
          "insert"
        ],
        [
          "to",
          "to#English"
        ],
        [
          "verb",
          "verb"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(grammar) An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/splɪt ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-nə-/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-split infinitive.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c2/En-au-split_infinitive.ogg/En-au-split_infinitive.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/En-au-split_infinitive.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "an infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb",
      "word": "disigita infinitivo"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb",
      "word": "getrennter Infinitiv"
    }
  ],
  "word": "split infinitive"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (ae36afe and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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