I have spent many years not listening to advertisements but recently my young son pointed out the grammarly advertisements. They don’t use a capital G for their name which is a concern. However the point of my post is that their line”it may be grammatically correct” is anything but grammatically correct. It is a split infinitive. It should be “ it may be correct grammatically “
I would have been given a Saturday detention for that.
Remember “to boldly go”
Does it matter? |
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I don't think split infinitives are always considered incorrect, and are more of a stylistic choice. It's not *quite* up there with insisting on the subjunctive (I gather approaching extinction in English), in terms of pedantry, but it's close. |
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"I don't think split infinitives are always considered incorrect, and are more of a stylistic choice. It's not *quite* up there with insisting on the subjunctive (I gather approaching extinction in English), in terms of pedantry, but it's close."
I think my point is that someone holding themselves up to be “better that you” hence selling product thinks it acceptable to aim low.
I was brought up in the North West. Latin was also thought- even if at a low level.
I guess times change. |
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"I don't think split infinitives are always considered incorrect, and are more of a stylistic choice. It's not *quite* up there with insisting on the subjunctive (I gather approaching extinction in English), in terms of pedantry, but it's close.
I think my point is that someone holding themselves up to be “better that you” hence selling product thinks it acceptable to aim low.
I was brought up in the North West. Latin was also thought- even if at a low level.
I guess times change."
Language evolves, and I think this is a case of that.
The ads I've seen have been about getting ahead, and I don't think the contexts they talk about or allude to are particularly prescriptivist. |
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"I don't think split infinitives are always considered incorrect, and are more of a stylistic choice. It's not *quite* up there with insisting on the subjunctive (I gather approaching extinction in English), in terms of pedantry, but it's close.
I think my point is that someone holding themselves up to be “better that you” hence selling product thinks it acceptable to aim low.
I was brought up in the North West. Latin was also thought- even if at a low level.
I guess times change.
Language evolves, and I think this is a case of that.
The ads I've seen have been about getting ahead, and I don't think the contexts they talk about or allude to are particularly prescriptivist."
I am guessing they are US advertisements aimed at any “English” speaking sales areas.
We still do teach the concept of split infinitive at KS2 |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"it may be grammatically correct" is not a split infinitive. "To boldly go ... " is a split infinitive ("To go boldly ... " to avoid the split but doesn't have the same 'ring' about it).
" ... split infinitive ... is a grammatical construction in which a word or phrase is placed between the particle to and the infinitive that comprise a to-infinitive ... "
And whether to split an infinitive, or not, is a matter of style and not a 'real' rule of grammar (subjective not objective).
"The real rules of grammar describe the formal structure of a language. They are, effectively, generalisations about how words fit together to create meanings, and they are identified through the study of linguistic evidence ... "
English evolves and most of the pedantry is over 'style' and words that have changed their meaning over time.
I would hazard a generalisation that just about all native English speakers very rarely *actually* produce a grammatically incorrect sentence. |
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