This is an all English podcast episode 1521 Don't Split Hairs about split infinitives in English.

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Today we answer a great grammar question from our listener, Oleg, in a case where natives say the same thing in two different ways. Which way is correct and does it matter for you? Find out our stance today.

Hey, Lindsay, how's it going? Hey, Michelle, it's gone pretty well. How about you? What's going on in New York these days? Everything's good.

Everything's good. Yeah, I'm I'm trying to think I've been, you know, enjoying driving around a lot lately, actually.

OK. All right. Yeah.

Now we do a lot of a lot of like, you know, because there's not that many places to go and it's hard with the with the baby and stuff. So we do a lot of drives to different towns.

And so a lot of times on the weekends we're just driving around exploring.

I love exploring different towns. When I lived in New England, we used to go to like Vermont or Western Mass and explore the little towns, little countryside towns. It's so fun. It is. It is.

So yeah, we went somewhere new over the weekend and we weren't even expecting to like we were just driving around. And then I said, oh, why didn't your parents tell us about this town like I live? And then I looked where it was and we were half an hour away and like, OK, let's go. So that's kind of fun. That's fun.

And when you go to these towns, do you, like, stop for a coffee or lunch or do you just kind of drive through and keep going?

Walk around here? We took a walk around. We didn't we didn't get anything to eat. We had already eaten. But sometimes we'll, like, get lunch, like usually get some takeout or something like that. But we did walk around and. Yeah, it was cute.

Yeah. Fun. Awesome. Cool.

And explorer Michelle, I'm an explorer exploring the New York New Jersey area. One on one town at a time. It's wild. Yeah. What about you. How are you. I was good.

I'm good. I went skiing with my brother recently. That was fun. And but today I'm excited because it looks like we're getting into a little gremlin.

Yes, we are getting to some grammar today because we have a question from Oleg. Lindsy, would you read the question for us? Right. Here we go.

Hi, it's Oleg from Kiev, Ukraine. First of all, I'd like to thank you for the commitment episode. It was awesome. OK, guys, go check for that episode and pull that up all in English. Dotcom, he OK? His new question now, I have a new question for you, and I hope you are able to respond to it lately. I've come across the use of the construction to not do though before. I always seem to notice not to do variation.

After that I read about existing split infinitives, but it's still hard to get the point specifically on not so my question about this and how colloquial to not plus verb is whether an average American says to not do as well as not to do. Or does it depend? I'm looking forward to hearing from you girls and your explanations. Best wishes, aleg of.

OK, this is a great question. It took me a little bit to like I was like, wait, what not to do because it is confusing and that's why he asks it, because it is confusing. And so we're going to try and clear it up today. But the answer is basically it's confusing. It's not.

Yeah, I love it when our listeners, though, send us the tough questions and sometimes do native speakers wonder about. Oh, for sure.

For sure. It's interesting because then I like really grapple with them for a while. I do my research and then I'll I'll get into this more in a second. But I do want to highlight. So Aleg was talking about the commitment episode and I have it. So he had asked us a question about the word commitment. So go ahead and listen to that. That was episode fourteen thirty eight. How to use the word commitment to maintain privacy and be concise.

And listen to that for Oleg's other wonderful question. I love that whole episode. We'll put that in the notes. Fourteen thirty eight. Awesome. And guys, just remember, if you want to get your fluency score, which is such a cool way to know what your English level is, you can go right now to our home page, go to all areas, English dot com and find the photo of me and Michelle. If you're on a laptop, the button is going to be to your left.

It's going to say free English quiz. OK, if you're on a mobile, it's going to be just below our photo. Go and click on that and opt in for your free English quiz. Such a cool way to get your fluency score right, Michelle? Definitely.

Definitely. So go check that out. That's awesome. OK, OK. So a great question. Aleg So OK, so we're asking about to not do or not to do. Yes. So let me just give an example so that we can kind of get our thoughts organized. OK, so let's start with the two not do right. So it's important to not get flustered on the exam. OK, or you might say and he's asking too, not the other way.

Could be OK to not do not not to do not to do. Yeah, not so it's important not to get flustered on the exam, so it's important to not get flustered on the exam or it's important not to get flustered on the exam. So Lindsay, what do you think about that. Oh my gosh.

I wonder this too recently.

Yeah. So first of all, I will say that natives say both, OK? They definitely say bozo, no one is going to call you out as having terrible grammar. Or, you know, we do try to be very clear on the show. What are the grammar mistakes that you absolutely cannot make?

Yeah, OK. Certain things around the past tense that just make you sound very just bad. It sounds awful, but there are other. Grammar mistakes that are a little bit of a gray area in terms of spoken English and are OK to make. OK. Exactly. That's really important, guys, because you can't spend all day studying grammar books, OK?

Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. So. Well, Oleg is asking if it's OK to say the first one to say to not get flustered. So he mentions split infinitives, which shows that he's really diving into this grammar. He's doing his research, which is great on. The thing is, this can sometimes get extremely confusing. And like I said, it can be confusing to me.

Yeah.

And, you know, Oleg knew that he cared more about what is said. Right. So he he he asked, you know, he said, what an act would an average American say to not do as well or does it? Like, that's one thing that I love about the way Oleg phrased this, because he wants to know the grammar, but he also has this understanding, like, OK, what should I actually say? Like, does it matter?

Right.

Well, I'm really glad he asked that, because that tells me he's a smart learner and he's more concerned about connection than he is about perfection, connection, not perfection. But let me just clarify, Michelle, what exactly does split infinitive mean? Where is the definitive what are we talking about?

Right. So basically with split infinitives, the first one the first example to not do is a split infinitive because you're splitting the words two and do God.

Right. So usually we would just say to the verb right.

To do to to get to do to want to have. Right. So you're splitting it up with that. Not right. To to not do so. That's a split infinitive, right, Lindsay. I see.

I see. OK, that makes it more clear. Thank you, Michelle. You're welcome. You're welcome.

So guys, there is a lot of talk about split infinitives. And, you know, some people believe that it's OK, some really don't. So I saw a lot of people like when I was researching this, and I know a lot of problems. And then people say, oh, no, it's OK. So, guys, I mean, this is not where we're going to get bogged down on this like.

No, on these, like, little areas of opinion and, you know, strict grammarians on this and that. Some of this and if you want to take a look at it, is from Lerner's dictionary dotcom. Some of this is inspired from Lerner's dictionary dot com or more about split infinitives. So we can give you that. So but this is about what sounds right.

So people do use both. Right. So we're going to talk about both. And sometimes one just sounds better. So let's go back to that first example. So it's important to not get flustered on the exam. So technically, that's the notah splitting it. Right. But does that sound bad to you?

Important to. Plus, it's I mean, it's fine. I yeah, that's fine. And then also the other one that is fine is it's important not to get flustered on the exam for me in this case, I would say the second one just because important not it flows together. The transition the way it's almost like sometimes about what's easier to say actually.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree. I agree. Yeah, I would say either one and I agree that, I would say the second one more likely. But if somebody said the first one I wouldn't be like what. Like. Exactly.

Yeah. What about we have more examples. We do. We do. What's the next and the next example. What is your fluency score in English. Are you at 50 percent fluency. Sixty five or 80 percent fluency. Knowing this helps you know where to start and exactly what to do each day. So get clear on your steps to fluency by taking our free quiz, go to all ears English and click the button called Free English Quiz. That's all ears English dot com and find the button free English quiz to get started now.

Thanks guys.

So version one, the boss told her not to take three months of vacation at a time and then version to Michelle, the boss told her employees to not take three months of vacation at a time so that once the split infinitive.

Right, Michelle, that's gone. OK, so which one did you say here, the boss? I still think I'd say the first year the boss told our employees not to. Yeah, I would say the first one.

Yeah, I feel like it's kind of trending. Well, let's see. Let's see what the trend is. Let's keep going. Let's keep going. OK.

All right. Here's another one. Have you been told not to touch the animals and have your or version to the split infinitive version?

Have you been told to not touch the animals?

Mm hmm. I like the first one better. It feels more. It feels easier to say.

Mm hmm. To not the owner to. Right. Right. Right, right. Right. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I do think that there is a sense of it being easier to say in that way. Yeah. So yeah, that's but it's not really necessarily for a specific grammar decision. I mean it could be more instinctive. Yeah.

So harsh to put the two there. Have you been told to not touch the animals. Just feels a little interruptive.

I mean if that were. Let's keep going.

OK, all right. Another one is I will try not to eat all the cookies before you get off and version two of the split infinitive.

I will try to not eat all the cookies before you get home again. I personally like the first one because it's not interruptive. Like I said, by throwing that awkward to right in the middle of everything, the sentence feels like it flows better by saying, I'll try not I'll try not to eat all the cookies before you get home. Right. I agree. I agree. So sometimes there can be a slight difference in what is emphasized. So let's say if I say something like and I saw this on, I believe probably on that side, but I don't remember about it.

Here's an example I asked you to not I asked you not to call me anymore.

Right. Versus saying something like I asked you to not call me anymore. So what did I do there? So you kind of changed the stress.

You made it more emphatic. Right? The knot would be emphasized here. So, you know, the intonation could change it as well.

So maybe if you use that version, it could be like more stressed, more extreme.

Yeah, I agree with that. Just to play devil's advocate, on the other side, we could also emphasize the not in the first one. I asked you to not call me anymore. You're calling me, but I asked you to not call me. Right. Maybe that would be a little less common, but you could emphasize it. Mm hmm.

Right, right. Right. And then this is interesting. So I was planning this episode and then I happened to be like scrolling through news and I saw Australia vowed to never let these men settle on its soil, OK, to never let. So that was interesting. So I saw this headline and it kind of made me think, OK, they didn't say vowed never to let. So, you know, it can be different.

And this was from CNN dot com. And this can happen with adverbs like never. So maybe we'll do a follow up on adverbs in the future in these kinds of situations. But it's definitely something to think about.

Yeah. I mean, so what's our basic recommendation here then, Michelle?

What do we recommend for our listeners on how to handle this so you can use either I mean, some people believe split infinitives are wrong, but people do it in real life. Right. So it's really important to listen for both and then decide to yourself for yourself. Right.

So, I mean, my my advice is when the grammar is bogging you down, listen for it. If it's controversial, like if you kind of try and Google the question and you see a lot of different opinions, probably means more than one thing is generally OK, right?

Probably right. Yeah. And then listen for any chunks you might hear. So that's really and I think that the great thing is that kind of was Oleg's system here. So definitely follow that. And that should help you when you're kind of seeing these grammar points are like, what?

I don't understand what this is all going to be using. It's probably confusing for native speakers to. Exactly. And I would add to that advice there, this take away guys, when you when there is this situation that both are OK, go with what's easy, OK? Because the point is not like sitting there thinking and trying to remember what's correct in the middle of the conversation. Then you break the connection, go with what flows, what feels good in that moment to say, and then you maintain the connection.

OK, so so as I mentioned in the beginning, there are certain ones that just flow better as a sentence. Use those and then some that don't obsess over it.

That's right. Right, right, right. Right, exactly. So, yeah. So that was great. I mean, it's a great question. I mean, the takeaway is this is a great question. And, you know, you have great awareness. So like of, you know, what may or may not be colloquial versus official grammar, and there's a lot more that we could do on this topic for another day when we get going to get more into grammar.

But basically, guys, don't worry too much about it. You know, one might be a little bit more common if you get into an argument with someone who's a grammarian, they might be picky about it. But in your day to day life, I don't think that this is too big of an issue with accuracy. Exactly.

The vast majority of native speakers you're going to interact with, the ninety nine point nine nine percent are not grammarians. They just want to know you. They want to know what you have to say and you know what connection you could build with that person, whether it's at work or in your everyday life. So don't worry about that small percentage that are going to be sticklers and grammarians.

OK, don't worry about it. Just move on. Exactly.

Exactly. All right. Well, Lindsay, this was fun. And guys, remember to take your free quiz, go to all ears, English dot com, and you will see a button under our picture that says Free English fluency quiz. Click on that and I'll take you to a really great compliment, a quiz that that will let you know so much more about your level.

Love it. You guys there. Take care. Bye.

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