A split infinitive is when an adverb or adverbial phrase is placed between the word to and its companion verb.
Most common example of breaking this rule comes from Star Trek: "To boldy go where no man has gone before."
Sometimes the meaning or emphasis can change when the split infinitive is fixed. For example:
You have to really monitor the gauge on the pressure valve.
You really have to monitor the gauge on the pressure valve.
Where's the emphasis placed in each sentence? In the first example, the importance is monitoring the gauge. In the second example, it would seem only you can handle the job.
Researching this topic, I discovered there is quite a bit of controversy regarding split infinitives. Some people say you should NEVER break this rule, while others say its an archaic rule based on Latin structure and isn't always applicable to current day usage in the English language.
What you think?
