History of Split infinitive

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	Revision 14 . . November 19, 2001 6:25 am by ManningBartlett [repaired an error - see talk]
	Revision 13 . . (edit) November 19, 2001 6:17 am by ManningBartlett
	Revision 12 . . November 19, 2001 6:14 am by ManningBartlett [slight reorg]
	Revision 11 . . November 19, 2001 6:13 am by ManningBartlett [slight reorg]
	Revision 10 . . November 19, 2001 5:02 am by (logged).227.230.xxx
	Revision 9 . . November 19, 2001 2:27 am by AxelBoldt [Example before discussion, but after definition]
	Revision 8 . . November 19, 2001 1:26 am by Egern
	Revision 7 . . November 19, 2001 1:07 am by (logged).177.52.xxx
	Revision 6 . . (edit) November 18, 2001 10:39 pm by The Epopt
	Revision 5 . . November 18, 2001 4:18 pm by ManningBartlett [more]
	Revision 4 . . November 18, 2001 4:18 pm by ManningBartlett [more]
	Revision 3 . . November 18, 2001 4:06 pm by ManningBartlett
	Revision 2 . . November 18, 2001 4:02 pm by ManningBartlett [new entry - can't believe this wasn't done before]
	Revision 1 . . November 18, 2001 4:00 pm by ManningBartlett [new entry - can't believe this wasn't done before]

Difference (from prior major revision) (author diff)

Changed: 9c9

Other expressions can have their meaning altered entirely by avoiding the split infinitive. The sentence "He failed to completely understand the book" suggests that the understanding is partial and not complete, whereas "He failed completely to understand the book" implies that no understanding was achieved at all. However the sentence "He failed to understand the book completely" conveys the same information as the one with the split infinitive.

Other expressions can have their meaning altered entirely by avoiding the split infinitive. The sentence "He failed to completely understand the book" suggests that the understanding is partial and not complete, whereas "He failed completely to understand the book" implies that no understanding was achieved at all. The other alternative "He failed to understand the book completely" is ambiguous, as it is not certain whether the adverb is attached to "failed" or to "understand".