Common
Queries
The infinitive: to split or not to split?
The most famous split infinitive of all time is in the mission statement for the original Star Trek crew:
to boldly go where no man has gone before.
For some inexplicable reason, pedants continue to regard the insertion of an adverb between "to" and the base form of the verb as an example of sloppy usage. (People fought heated battles about it in the nineteenth century!)
It is, however, extremely common in both spoken and written English and can be found in literary classics. As in the Star Trek example, it preserves the natural rhythm of spoken English. To avoid splitting can result in awkward, even ambiguous sentences.
I'd like to really understand her views
means something different from
I'd really like to understand her views.
The best advice is this: consider your audience. If you're writing a job application that is likely to be read by someone who cares about infinitives, don't split them! (Avoid anything ugly or unclear; recast the whole sentence if you have to.) Otherwise, don't worry — split away.
Do I use "I" or "me"?
e.g. The manager showed Tom and me how to use Power Point.
A lot of people are uncertain about this and, for some reason, tend to go for "I" because it seems to sound better. Try following one of the strategies below.
(a) The grammatical explanation: Use "I" if the pronoun is the subject of the clause. Use "me" if it's the object of the verb or a preposition.
(b) The simple test: remove the other person! (Tom) Check that the sentence makes sense. If it does, you were right.
Can I use "they" to refer to one person?
Of course you can! It's been part of standard English for centuries. In a more formal document, you should probably choose the more ponderous "he or she", but you'll soon tire of it.
e.g. If one of our customers returns the product within 10 days, they will be entitled to a full refund.
Can I use prepositions at the end of a relative clause?
This is the knotty problem which Churchill famously made fun of (...of which Churchill famously made fun?):
That is the kind of English up with which I will not put.
In this case, it all depends on how formal you want to be. If you're writing a school report, you should remember that grammatically over-sensitive people may read it. In a magazine article, there should be no problem.
e.g. It's a habit which/that I easily got accustomed to.
This is much more natural, in all but the most formal situations than:
...to which I easily got accustomed.
"Who" & "which" at the beginning of part of a sentence should alert you that you're in this territory. N.B. If, after having shunted your preposition ("by", "with", "in" etc.) to the end, you think the sentence sounds weird, you've inappropriately split a multi-word verb, as in Churchill's example. Undo it.
"Who" or "whom"?
Using "whom" in the pub may earn you some funny looks, or worse. If in doubt, most people choose "who", and this is correct, except in a formal context when you're referring to the object of the verb.
The infinitive: to split or not to split?
The most famous split infinitive of all time is in the mission statement for the original Star Trek crew:
to boldly go where no man has gone before.
For some inexplicable reason, pedants continue to regard the insertion of an adverb between "to" and the base form of the verb as an example of sloppy usage. (People fought heated battles about it in the nineteenth century!)
It is, however, extremely common in both spoken and written English and can be found in literary classics. As in the Star Trek example, it preserves the natural rhythm of spoken English. To avoid splitting can result in awkward, even ambiguous sentences.
I'd like to really understand her views
means something different from
I'd really like to understand her views.
The best advice is this: consider your audience. If you're writing a job application that is likely to be read by someone who cares about infinitives, don't split them! (Avoid anything ugly or unclear; recast the whole sentence if you have to.) Otherwise, don't worry — split away.
Do I use "I" or "me"?
e.g. The manager showed Tom and me how to use Power Point.
A lot of people are uncertain about this and, for some reason, tend to go for "I" because it seems to sound better. Try following one of the strategies below.
(a) The grammatical explanation: Use "I" if the pronoun is the subject of the clause. Use "me" if it's the object of the verb or a preposition.
(b) The simple test: remove the other person! (Tom) Check that the sentence makes sense. If it does, you were right.
Can I use "they" to refer to one person?
Of course you can! It's been part of standard English for centuries. In a more formal document, you should probably choose the more ponderous "he or she", but you'll soon tire of it.
e.g. If one of our customers returns the product within 10 days, they will be entitled to a full refund.
Can I use prepositions at the end of a relative clause?
This is the knotty problem which Churchill famously made fun of (...of which Churchill famously made fun?):
That is the kind of English up with which I will not put.
In this case, it all depends on how formal you want to be. If you're writing a school report, you should remember that grammatically over-sensitive people may read it. In a magazine article, there should be no problem.
e.g. It's a habit which/that I easily got accustomed to.
This is much more natural, in all but the most formal situations than:
...to which I easily got accustomed.
"Who" & "which" at the beginning of part of a sentence should alert you that you're in this territory. N.B. If, after having shunted your preposition ("by", "with", "in" etc.) to the end, you think the sentence sounds weird, you've inappropriately split a multi-word verb, as in Churchill's example. Undo it.
"Who" or "whom"?
Using "whom" in the pub may earn you some funny looks, or worse. If in doubt, most people choose "who", and this is correct, except in a formal context when you're referring to the object of the verb.
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