The issue put forward by the admissibility or non-admissibility of the split infinitive is one of usage, not of principle, and one thing that is clear is that in speech the split infinitive is common even among speakers who on principle reject it with horror. As a rule a split infinitive occurs in English when an adverb or adverbial phrase is inserted between the infinitival particle to and a verb in its infinitive form. Claims that split infinitives are wrong are intermingled with appropriate counterarguments by leading writers and grammarians. The adverbial “misplacements” to be considered will be taken under the heads: fear of split infinitive, imaginary split infinitive passive and splitting of the compound verb.
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