The term “to not” is seen and heard quite frequently. He is trying to not drink much anymore.He is trying not to drink too much anymore.His essay was an example of how to not write an essay.His essay was an example of how not to write an essay.Here are some examples with the terms in context: However, to avoid splitting the infinitive, it is safer to use “not to”, especially in any formal writing. Therefore, both versions are used and acceptable. In decades past, it was viewed as extremely “incorrect” to place anything between these two words because you are “splitting the infinitive.” However, in modern English, which is less formal than it once was, splitting infinitives is not something that generates as much controversy as it once did. In modern English, though, people care less about split infinitives and commonly use “to not.”Īn infinitive verb in English is the base form of the verb, i.e. However, grammatically “not to” is the correct version because “to not” results in a split infinitive, whose use is frowned upon by many. The terms “to not” and “not to” mean the same thing. To Not or Not To – What’s the Difference? This page examines and explains both phrases and shows how they are used in sentences. My personal view.The phrases “to not” and “not to” appear commonly in English, and knowing which one to use is slightly tricky. So I don't see a case for saying "to not". One of my dearest principles isn't to be selective about people. Personally I'd tend to give the second interpretation only if the verb were contracted: (being selective about people is not one of my dearest principles). One of my dearest principles is not | to be selective about people. One of my dearest principles is | not to be selective about people It might be unclear whether we're saying: One of my dearest principles is not to be selective about people The problem with the sentence in question is that if we say I have some difficulty, though, about the negative infinitive, because in the abbreviated form it is always "not to" we never say "We decided to not" or "I told you to not!" So I agree that splitting an "infinitive" is no crime, especially when it helps to avoid ambiguities. In the past (I hope not in the present) the feeling was that Romance languages (and maybe all European languages, along with Swahili and Japanese ) were a degeneration, not an evolution, of Latin, so we had to study Latin in order to reason clearly about language. However, you're probably right that the notion in English teaching is Latin-based. One of my dearest principles is not to be selective in my relationship(s) with others.Ĭlick to expand.In German too the infinitive is self-contained of course it can have a preposition before it, but this is true for Latin languages as well. One of my dearest principles is to not be selective in my relationship(s) with others. (I have never made personal/moral/sexual judgments about anybody, and everybody is welcome into my life, and if you like to rape women, I don't care. One of my dearest principles is to never be selective about people. (I have insisted my whole life, I still do, and in the future I will continue, to be very careful about the kind of people I bring into my life.) One of my dearest principles is to always be selective in my relationship with others. (I was too selective before, looking for perfection, but now I won't be looking for perfection in the future) One of my dearest principles is not to be so selective in my relationships with others I want to know how you feel about this, but I don't, because there is no adverb. Now what I'm about to say about your sentence has nothing to do with grammar, because ignoring the split infinitive thing, and yes, "dearest principles" is correct, I feel like I'm walking into a sentence that is correct, but also that I'm walking into a life declaration, a story, and the declaration is incomplete and flat, and I keep wondering how and why you feel about this. One of my dearest principles is ( to not be-not to be) selective in my relationship(s) with others.
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