Is it okay to split infinitives?

An often-repeated grammar rule says that infinitives should never be "split," meaning that no words should come between to and the base form of the verb.
 
Split: We need to completely revise our strategic plan.
Not split: We need to revise our strategic plan completely.

This rule was derived from Latin and Greek, where the infinitive is one word, so it is grammatically impossible to split it. However, nothing is grammatically incorrect about splitting an English infinitive, so the decision to split or not to split is a matter of style, not grammar. Gene Roddenberry thought a split infinitive was good enough for the introduction to his Star Trek TV series: "To boldly go where no man as gone before." And not splitting an infinitive sometimes makes the meaning unclear or the sentence awkward, as seen in the following example:

The company plans to more than triple its production in the coming year.

It is impossible to avoid splitting this infinitive without rewriting the sentence. Do whatever makes the meaning clear and the writing easy to read.

 
 
 
 
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